Minus Dean
by MaryATroryFan
Summary: TRORY! What if there had been no Dean... at all! Totally AU. COMPLETE!
1. Chilton

**Disclaimer: **Don't own any of the characters, the settings, except the story.

**Author's Note:** Have you ever wondered what would have happened between Rory and Tristan if there had been no Dean? Of course you have!! And there are probably a bunch of stories about it here, although in my defense I am going to say that since my discovery of ff.net I haven't read any of them. . . but the again maybe I wasn't paying enough attention.  So here is my take on what might have happened if there had been no Dean.  I am going to follow the same plot-line for the first two episodes, but not the whole dialog.  And after that, I'll just be on my own.  Hope you enjoy it!

**Minus Dean**

 "I still cannot believe that you didn't finish doing my toe-nails last night" Rory stated from her room as she was pulling the socks of her uniform on.

"XTC. . . the new CD, come on Rory, that was excuse enough.  Besides you enjoyed the cacophony as much as we did."

"True, true. . . but still, what if I slip and both my shoes and socks came out of my feet. . . they would see my feet then, don't you think?"

"So you would fall, and both your shoes, and both socks will slip out of you feet?"

"Yeah, it was a big fall.  I mean, acrobatics where involved in it."

"I see, because that would explain that both shoes and both socks fell of your feet"

"Glad you see my point."

"Hurry, so we can get coffee at Luke's"

"I'm ready" Rory said as she exited her bedroom.

"Wow! You look so. . . _plaid"_ Lorelai stated the obvious as she saw Rory coming out of her room.

"That was flattering!"

"Well, honey. . . at least the uniform is blue.  It matches your eyes"

"Yes, because the reason we picked Chilton was color-coordination"

"Of course! Screw the level of education. . . although, apparently we lucked out with this one"

"Yeah, I match the uniform and get a great education"

"Two birds with one stone"

"Yeah"

"Well, we should go"

"Yeah, I'll get that coffee to go"

"To go? Why?"

"Well, I don't know where my classes will be, and I don't now how long exactly is going to take me to get there on a bus.  There is no room here for unpredictability.  I'm not exactly a fan of hers"

"Yeah, I know. . . but hey, you have a map, you can see where your classes are on it"

"Yeah, but the scale can be screwed up, to get students confused or trusting on a wicked device"

"The map is wicked?"

"Some are."

"So, coffee to go." Lorelai stated.

"Yeah, to go"

And as they finished their conversation they finally reached Luke's.

"Luke, two coffee's to go, and don't argue, we don't have the time" Lorelai said as she walked in to the diner.

"How convenient"

"Yeah! We are starting a new school. . . can't you recognize plaid when you see it? Or is it that you are so used to it by now, that anything non-plaid is just weird for you?"

"I thought you didn't have time to waste. . ."

"Oh, um, I don't. . . we don't"

"So Chilton?" Luke directed himself to Rory.

"Yeah, first day"

"Well good luck. . . here you go" he said and handed a large to-go cup  filled with coffee.

"Thanks, Luke"

"Yeah, thanks, Luke" Lorelai said as she got her own cup.

And they started walking out.

"Oh, mom! How could I forget this? You have to come with me"

"What? Why?"

"To meet the Headmaster. It's my first day.  It's mandatory"

"How come you didn't think of this before we walked here"

"I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"Well, lets hurry.  You don't want to be late on your first day" And they both started running towards their house, very ungracefully by the way, trying not to spill coffee and drinking from time to time.

~*~

When they got to Chilton they where impressed by the magnitude of the building.  It was very imposing, to the point of intimidation.

"I remember it being smaller." She says, looking a little worried as she stares at the building in front of her. 

"Yeah. And less.." Lorelai states, a little intimidation sounding in her voice. 

"Off with their heads." Rory finishes for her.

"Ah." Lorelai says as she tilts her head, peering up. 

Rory, glancing at her mom, does the same. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm just trying to see if there's a hunchback up in that bell tower."

"So, where do we go from here?"

"To the Ambroise Building"

"Which one is that?"

"The big, scary one"

"Great, do you by any chance know if it's the one that is made our of concrete and has windows and doors also?"

"Well, I don't know which one it is"

"Don't you have a map there?"

"Well I am looking at the map and. . ."

"Wicked, right!"

They start walking towards the entrance when they run into a very handsome man that shows them the right way after a little flirting with Lorelai.  The headmaster is expecting them, as is Emily, who had been notified of her granddaughters presence on that day.  The meeting goes as good as a meeting with the headmaster of school can go.  They make it sound big and important.  And completely overwhelming.  And the man does not lie.  He speaks with Rory alone, and in the mean time Lorelai and Emily get into an argument.  So pretty much, you can say it was not your normal first-day-of-school morning.  For anyone.

Rory then was directed to her classes.  She stood out immediately.  The awkward uncomfortable look was obvious.  If you saw her sitting on her desk, and it was your first time teaching that class, you would know that Rory was the new girl.

And she didn't go unnoticed either.  Not by her teachers, and not by her classmates either.  Especially one of them.

Tristan DuGrey.  The epitome of everything a high-school boy should be.  Tall, chiseled features, beautiful blue eyes, tousled blond hair, looked amazing even in his uniform. . . an also arrogant as hell, popular and had every girl wanting to be with him and every guy wanting to be him.  That first day of school for her, had been, in a way, a first day of school for him also.  He had been out of school for a week because his grandfather had been ill, and came back that same day.  When he came into the classroom, he presented Mr. Remmy with a note, exchanged pleasantries with him and walked towards his sit.  That's when he noticed her.  She was very into taking notes, but he somehow could not avoid looking at her.  And in all honesty, she couldn't help but notice him also, as he was standing in front of the class.  And he was the kind of guy that was kind of hard not to look at.

The curiosity got the best of him, and he leaned into the guy that was in front of him on the row, and asked him.

"Who's that?"

The guy leaned back and answered "New girl", of course that was obvious.  But the again no one had a lot of information about her.  Except a very special trio.

As class was let go, after the bell rang, they both walked by her and Tristan said "Look's like we got ourselves a Mary"

She didn't notice this at the moment since she was being called upfront with the teacher, who gave her a amazingly heavy and packed binder with notes for his class "but you might find helpful borrowing one of your classmates' notes.  They tend to be more detailed".  Talk about overwhelming!

As Rory is coming out of the room, this blond girl comes up to her with a very intense look on her face. 

"I'm Paris."

"I didn't see you there. Where'd you come from?"  Rory asked a little confused.  She didn't notice where this girl had popped out from.

"I know who you are, too. Lorelai Gilmore from Stars Hollow."

"You can call me Rory." She said in an attempt of being friendly.

"Are you going out for the 'Franklin'?" 

"The what?"

"Nice innocent act. At least I know you're not going out for drama club. The Franklin, the school paper, are you going out for it?"

"I have to find my locker first." 

"I'm gonna be editor next year."

"Well, good for you." Rory says as she tries to move away, but Paris steps in front of her.

"I'm also the top of the class, and I intend to be valedictorian when I graduate."

"Okay. I'm going now." 

"You'll never catch up. You'll never beat me. This school is my domain and the Franklin is my domain. And don't you ever forget that." Paris finishes and walks off. 

Rory looks after her strangely, "I guess you're not going to let me borrow your notes, huh?" and continues down hallway.

Rory's day continues on the same manner.  Going to class.  Getting lost.  Collecting huge binders with a week's worth of notes.  Getting evil stares from Paris and her group.  The day was almost over, and then. . . the guy that came in late to class, approached her.

"Hey, Mary." 

"Me?" 

"Yeah, you."

"My name is Rory." She stated, he took it as an invitation.

"I'm Tristan." 

"Hi."

"So you new?"

"Yeah, first day."

"Remmy's class is rough."

"Yeah, it seemed very intense."

"I could loan you my notes, if that would help."

"Really? That's be great."

"Yeah? How great?" he says as he walks forward, pushing her up against the wall.

"I don't know. Mr. Remmy said that getting someone's notes would be.."

"I could even help you study. If you want." He said and pushed her a little more into the wall.

"Uh, I kind of view studying as a solitary activity. But thanks." She said, very uncomfortable.

"Bye Mary." And with this, he walks off. 

"It's Rory." Somehow, though, things like that just stick in your head.  

Rory finished her first day at Chilton, with a bunch of work she had to catch up with, a bunch of homework that was due the next day, tests that where to take place a couple of days later, on the stuff she had to catch up with and the homework she had to do.  She had wrecked Paris' history project, out of everyone it had been Paris', and had been paired up with her to re-do it.  It was making her a little exhausted just thinking about it.  And to top everything off, this guy kept calling her Mary, what was that all about?  So when she saw Lorelai parked outside of school, and with a bit cup of coffee in her hand, she thought she could put up with just about anything.  They got into the car a few minutes later.

"Oh, they expect a lot of things." Rory started.

"So tell me." 

"I don't know. It was just one big, long, scary, tweedy, bad eight hours."

"Add some hair spray, and you got my day."

"One of the girls already hates me. The guys are weird."

"Weirder than other guys?"

"Yeah, they kept calling me Mary."

"You're kidding me. Wow, I can't believe they still say that."

"Why? What does it mean?"

"It means like, Virgin Mary. It means they think you look like a goody-goody."

"You're kidding." 

"No."

"Well what would they have called me if they thought I looked like a slut?"

"Well, they might have added a Magdalene to it." 

"Wow. Biblical insults. This is an advanced school." And apparently this made Rory smile.

They drove back to Stars Hollow, and they went on to take their regular Stars-Hollow-Lives, which everyone knows are a little less than normal.  Rory spoke with Lane of everything that happened at Chilton, Lane told her everything that happened in SHH, and they went on their way. . . Lane was late for dinner.

That week had been hell for Rory, hence Hell when they where referring to Chilton, as much as Rory worked on her Chilton stuff, it didn't seem she could catch up to all the load of work she was behind with.  It seemed to be a sick cycle.  Because she would finish something, up to the point where the binders finished, but she was already behind with the new stuff.  It seemed that as hard as she worked she wasn't able to catch up.  Lorelai was starting to get worried.

"Hey, kiddo, why don't you take a breather?"

"Because I am way behind mom, I have no time to take a breather"

"Judging by your color, you are forgetting how to breathe also"

"Well, you learn some things and forget others" 

"And she still has time to crack jokes, how does she do it?"

"Mom, you are not being helpful"

"At preserving my daughter for years to come. . . yeah, I am"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Isn't there anyone at that school that can give you a hand. . ."

"Mom. ."

"Not for, you know, forever. . . just while you catch up"

"I hardly know anyone in that school, and the ones I do know. . . it is safe to say that I'm not on their good sides"

"Except for that boy. . ."

"Which boy?"

"You know. . . The guy?"

"Oh, yeah! The one and only guy at Chilton!" Rory quipped.

"You know which guy. . . that guy that keeps calling you Mary. . . Let's call him Bible-boy, since you have been avoiding telling me his name"

"Tristan?"

"Is that his name?"

"Are you kidding me? He is insufferable, he's cocky, he would do nothing but make lewd remarks that would make me uncomfortable, and it would make it hard to work with. . . he's not an option"

"Then you are out of options. . . because you, obviously, cannot ask history-project girl, she definitely doesn't like you. . . I mean, who can build a model on the phone just so they can actually avoid you, and even then keep all 2 phone calls in 5 minutes or less. . . if the girl had a pizza place, imagine the possibilities."

"Well, I rather be out of options that to ask him for help"

"So you rather make your grades suffer than to ask someone for help"

"It's not the asking for help that I don't want to do, it's who I have to ask for help that bothers me"

"Well I just planted the seed. . . do a pro/con list and evaluate the possibility"

"I don't always do pro/con list, when I already know the outcome of it: NO!" she said.

But the she remembered that, even though the guy would hit on a broom if it had a skirt on, he did do well in school.  She actually saw how he took notes and all.  "No, he is not an option!!!" she said to no one in particular, pretty much to convince herself. "And besides, I don't know how to reach him" she finished.

"Phone Book"

"Mom. . ."

And Lorelai came back into the kitchen "Well, it is an option. . . you can look him up on the phone book."

"And what would I say, when I call him 'Hi, is Tristan there'"

"Well, that's a start. . . although I would expect a little more politeness from you.  You are a Chilton student now, they have a class on how to be a hypocrite there, don't they?"

"Yeah, but I am the only student in it"

"That's because they have a head start, many of them have been going there since they where in diapers.  You can put it to good use here"

"I don't know, mom"

"I was mistaken. . . you do have another option"

"Really?" Rory asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, you can fail miserably and make all this Friday night dinners be worth nothing. . . and you can add to that the sacrifice that we are putting into this"

"Mom. . ."

"OK, just consider it, please."

But Rory was a very stubborn girl, like her mother, but she did leave calling Tristan as a final option, just to make her mom happy.

The hours passed, and Rory was starting to get exasperated.  The Hartford phone book made fun of her, she thought, because it held information that she knew she needed, and it just laughed in her face.  Until she couldn't take it anymore.  She took the phone book, looked up the D's and then Du's and then DuG' and she found only one listing.

"OK, I am dialing. . . but if it's not his house, I am not trying again. . ." she said to no one, since she was all alone in the kitchen "I'm talking to myself. . . I should start getting worried about this", and then she dialed the phone.

Lorelai was in the living-room, grinning to herself as she heard Rory dialing.

"DuGrey residence, how may I help you?" a man answered on the other end of the line.

"Hello, I was wondering if Tristan DuGrey lives there?"

"Yes, miss, he does. . . I'll transfer you. . . may I ask who is calling?"

"Rory Gilmore, please"

And Rory heard that annoying little music that you listen to when you are being transferred to a different extension.

The phone in his bedroom rang.  And he answered quickly.

"Yes Will" he answered the butler.

"Master Tristan, you have a phone call"

"Will, I asked you to hold my calls for me. . . is it a girl?"

"Yes sir, it's a girl"

"Well, specially if it's a girl. . . I'm studying." He said, politely.

"Master Tristan, if you don't mind me telling you this. . . she doesn't sound like the girls that usually call you"

"Really, and how does she sound?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Sweet, actually. . . smart"

"Did she say her name? Is it Paris?"

"No, I'd recognize Miss Paris' voice. . . Her name is Rory Gilmore"

"Transfer it immediately"

"Yes, sir" William said and chuckled.  And then pressed the release button on the phone.

- Rory/Tristan Intercut -

T: Hello?

R: Tristan?

T: Yep.

R: Hi, this is Rory. . . Rory Gilmore. . . we go to. . .

T: I know who you are Mary.

R: So, you just choose to not say my name.

T: I just think that this one suits you better.

R: And all the hard work my mom went thru to pick my name means nothing, huh?

T: Unless I find a more suitable name. . .  then no, it doesn't.

R: This call was a mistake. . . forget I called.

T: The sound of your voice is forever imprinted in my auditory sense.  So it would be a little hard to arrange.

R: Well, try… I knew I shouldn't have called you.  I told my mom. . .

T: So your mom knows about me already?

R: It's not in any way flattering.

T: Did she suggest to make this call?

R: Yeah.

T: Then it is flattering.  I just might love her more than I love you.

R: My former comment still stands, forget I called.

T: Seriously Rory, did you have a reason to call me?

R: I cannot believe I'm doing this. . .

T: It's like that band-aid thing. . . one quick move. . .

R: Does that offer to help me study still stands?

T: Um, yeah. . . sure. . . but I thought you viewed studying as, and I quote, "a solitary activity"

R: I am really behind, and there are a couple of things I need help with. . . but you know what, forget it! I'll figure it out on my own!

T: I never said I wouldn't help you.

R: Yeah, but. . .

T: How behind are you?

R: You know what? I'm sorry, I really shouldn't do this. . . I mean you have your own studying to do, and. . .

T: Well, I can study while I help you study.

R: I shouldn't. . .

T: It's Ok, Mary, really. . . tell me, where do you want to meet, here or at your house?

R: Um, well. . .

T: Great, your house it is. . . where do you live?

R: Um, Stars Hollow. . .

T: I'll see you there in 45 minutes.

R: Don't you need my address to get here?

T: Prepare to be amazed. . . I am going to prove to you why us men don't need directions.

R: Oh, um. . 

T: See you in 44 minutes. . . Mary

- End Intercut –

And with this he hung up, not giving her a chance to say anything.  And that was his intention, not to let her doubt the fact that he was coming over.

Author's Note Number Two: So how did you like this? Should I continue? Should I just leave it as an attempt and never touch it again? I would really like your input on the matter.


	2. Study Session

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own the characters, the show, or Chad Michael Murray. . . although if it where up to me and I had to pick from one of the three I'd pick the latter.

**Another Author's Note: **WOW! Thank you so much everyone.  I was totally amazed at the response that this story had. . . I mean it turned out better than my other story.  I was completely excited about the acceptance, thank you so much. . . you guys have no idea what that means to me.  I know that it was a really long chapter and I should've omitted at least three-quarters of it, but I tried to put in some things that weren't exactly on the show. . . what happens now is completely mine.  

**Minus Dean Chapter 2**

Rory sat on her chair for a couple of minutes after the phone call ended.  She couldn't believe it! What had she done to herself? Was she some kind of masochist and didn't know that? And then she made a mental note, not to say that in front of Tristan. . . she wouldn't be able to live that out if she said it in his presence.

She needed to organize her thoughts.

She needed to organize her notes.

She needed. . . _someone to blame!!!_

"MOOOOM! This is your entire fault!!" she stated as she got of the chair and walked towards the living room.

"Excuse me, but how is that my fault?" she asked trying her hardest not to laugh. . . and succeeding.

"It's your fault I called him!!!"

"Really and how's that?"

"This is a direct quote _'that guy that keeps calling you Mary', what was I thinking listening to you about calling him?"_

"I don't think it's my fault" Lorelai said, nonchalant.

"Well I think it is"

"Let's go through the steps here, shall we?" Lorelai said as she shifted positions to face Rory.

Rory just grunted as a reply.

"Who was the one that had to consider it? You or me?"

"Me. . . But. . ."

"Wait, you'll get your turn. . . Who looked up the name on the phone book? You or me?" Lorelai said as she flicked question number two on her fingers.

"Me. . . But"

"Nuh uh.  You'll get your chance. . . Who dialed the number? You or me?" 

"Me, again. . . but" Rory was starting to get a little discouraged.

"Uh huh. . . Who set everything up? You or me?"

"Me. . ." she said, completely loosing all her 'edge'.

"You see my point now. . . I was just an innocent by-stander"

"A not-so-innocent by-stander, you 'planted the seed'"

"That I did. . . but you where the one who let it grow into a beautiful rose-bush"

"You got the rose part right. . . a rose _full of thorns!!_"

"That was lame!"

"I know. . . but I am under a lot of pressure here."

"So I take it that Bible-Boy is not completely indifferent to you, huh?"

"Oh, no! He is not indifferent to me. . . I mean I have many feelings towards him.  Hatred and disgust pretty much top that list!"

"Oh so you admit having feelings for him. . ."

"Yeah.  But I think that he won't find that flattering for his huge ego"

"That boy would turn everything around and make it flattering, if he's anything at all like you picture him."

"Tristan DuGrey needs no embellishing, trust me"

"Did you say DuGrey?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"OK, kid. . . pay attention to mommy here."

"O. . . K!" Rory said, not understanding where Lorelai was going with this.

"You say Tristan is a rich Hartford boy, right?"

"Yeah, born and bred.  Where are you going with this?"

"Rory, honey. . . if you want to have a chance to plan your own wedding with the guy of your choice, do not, listen to me, _do not_ mention him in your grandmother's presence."

"What? Why?"

"Hartford society, darling" Lorelai said aristocratically "it's simple. . . mom and dad, your grandparents. . ."

"Yeah, I'm familiar with them"

"They probably know the family. . . his family. . . and they'll probably plan everything from 'the courtship' to your 2.5 children and your pet"

"I get a pet!!" Rory said, trying to distract her mother.

"Focus, honey. . . did you understand me?"

"Yeah, mom. . . look, probably this would be the only time that I will have a semi-normal relationship with the guy, and then will be back to him calling me Mary, and me throwing scratching remarks in his direction. . . trust me, the world would have to disengage from it's axis for anything to happen between Tristan and myself."

"I wouldn't be to sure"

"I would. . . and now if you don't mind, the spawn of Satan is coming over and, since we have nothing to offer, I think I should go and get something at the market so I have something to offer him besides tap water."

"But we have Pop-Tarts and. .  coffee, you can offer him that"

"And then what would we eat? I'll be back in 15 minutes, ok?"

"Sure. . . bye"  

And with that Rory walked towards Doose's Market to get some candy, and chips, maybe some cookies and soda. . . maybe some milk.  Maybe some pain killers or whatever would make this day go away faster.  Whatever she picked it had to be fast, because time was running out and he would be at her house in about 30 minutes, and she wanted to be home on time. . . to get this over with.  Right.  Yeah, to get it over with.

~*~

"You went all out here, didn't you?" Lorelai asked as they emptied the grocery bags and prepare everything for their visitor.

"Yeah.  I figured that, if we didn't eat everything and -unless he is a Hoover- we won't, we could have a movie night later."

"You think of everything!"

"What can I say. . . but there is no altruistic sense here, it's mostly selfish.  I will need a movie night to get 'the stench of this horrible day off of me'"

"I can live with that kind of selfishness"

And they finished setting everything up on the kitchen table.

~*~

As he was arriving to Stars Hollow, he knew that to get on the good side of both the mother and the daughter he had to get something.  And he knew exactly what he had to get.  Coffee. 

He had noticed in the last couple of days, or maybe since Rory's first day, her inclination towards coffee.  And he also remembered that that first day at school, when Lorelai had come to pick Rory up, that Lorelai had been bearing coffee for Rory, and –being the smart _(and conniving)_ boy that he was- knew that bringing coffee was like killing two birds with one stone.

Tristan was a natural at winning parents over.  He had done it many times.  If he could avoid it, he would; but he was the kind of boy that would go the extra mile if needed, just to get another notch to his belt.

And, many girls had used the pretense of studying to get him to come over and he was more that happy to oblige; especially with Rory Gilmore.  Although he knew that Rory would not call him to "study" but to study, the real thing, with books and everything.  Most likely, her mother would be there; and if she lived up to the hype, that being from a society-name gave you (and especially if you are involved in a scandal such as Lorelai had been so many years ago), he knew that neither one of them were going to be easy to win over. . . but they were not going to be impossible either.  He would make sure of that.  He was, after all, a _DuGrey_.

Finally after driving around the center of the town, he noticed that there was a "Hardware Store" that said "Food" on one of the windows.  He knew that the odds of a Starbucks in Stars Hollow were slim to none, but then again Starbucks was everywhere.  Apparently, everywhere did not include Stars Hollow.  After noticing the food sign on the window, he parked in front of it.  He got out of the car and into the diner, to get six cups of coffee.  He figured two for each one of them was going to be enough. . . and as he was going out of the diner, he figured that to be on the safe side, he should take some doughnuts and a couple of Danish.

As he was coming into the diner the first time, the Stars Hollow gossip mill was starting to move.  Everyone was wondering who the mysterious, incredibly good-looking blond boy was doing in town.  They could tell by the car, that he was probably a rich boy from Hartford.  Everyone was starting to get ideas.  Some said that being from Hartford, "he was coming on business sent by his father to see if they could buy the town and build one of those clubs", but everyone dismissed Kirk's idea.  Some where a little more accurate, they thought that maybe some girl had met him somewhere and he was coming over to visit or pick her up for a date.  But this was dismissed very fast also.

At the diner, Babette and Morty where coming to their own conclusions.  This where a lot more accurate, considering that the boy was asking for massive amounts of coffee and doughnuts.  And who else but the Gilmore's drank that much coffee and where the number one consumer of such delicious desserts.  

As he was coming out of the diner for the second time, with the bag of pastries, Babette intercepted him:

"Hey, handsome. . . are you here on a social call?" Babette asked Tristan in her characteristic raspy-voice.

"Um. . . me?" Tristan asked.

"Of course you, gorgeous.  Everyone else in here I know. . . but you, we don't know you. . . so are you?"

"Actually a study session" he said giving the characteristic Tristan DuGrey smile.

"Oh. . . are you coming over to the Gilmore's?"

"Yes, ma'am"

"They're our neighbors. . . great gals, everyone here loves them to death, don't we Morty?"

"Yes, pretty cool chicks" Morty answered.

"Do you go to school with Rory?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I do."

"Babette let the boy go. . ." Luke intervened "you should go. . ."

"Yes, I should. . . um, thank you. . . Ma'am nice meeting you" He said, first addressing himself to Luke and then to Babette.

"Hey, maybe after your done you can come over. . . our house is the Pink house next to Lorelai's. . . you won't be able to miss it"

And with this, he left the diner.  And now he had a clear direction to how to get to Rory's.  He was smiling to himself at how he had lucked out with that one.  He didn't want anyone to tell Rory that he had stopped for directions to get to her house.  And now he didn't have to.  He drove a little more, and after exciting the town square, he reached the bright-pink house that had been mentioned before.  And then he noticed the mail-box with the name Gilmore written across it.  He was there.

~*~

Rory was starting to get antsy.  The time was almost here.  He was going to be at her house in a couple of minutes, and she was starting to get nervous.  She had asked over a guy that, for all she knew, tomorrow will start telling stories about how she had phoned him, and asked for help from him.  And a high school boy had one thing in mind when it came to study sessions, and wasn't really studying.  And she thought that Tristan probably wasn't asked to "come over and study", and do only that very often.  She heard Tristan's truck park in her lawn, behind Lorelai's Jeep.  As she was sitting by the window in her bedroom, she saw how he got some things out of his truck – his backpack, some to-go cups, and a white bag -, and she saw how he walked over to her front door.  She was rooted to her spot in her bedroom.

And then the knock came.

~*~

Lorelai was waiting in the living room for the knock.  She had been watching through the living room window.  She wanted to see him first thing, when he came over.  In a way she wanted to pull the protective-mom act and let him know that she was home so that he wouldn't get any ideas.  But, mostly, she was waiting for him, just to _see _him.  Study the horns and tail and see how he blew fire from his nostrils.  Some sign that he was as bad as Rory was saying he was.  

But when she saw the boy descend from his truck, and saw no flaming nostrils, tail or horns. . . you could've called her _stunned._  The kid was amazingly beautiful.  Not many men fit into a 'beautiful' definition – Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Matt Damon, and Jared Leto – but this boy did.  Chiseled features, blond, tall, great arms under the t-shirt. . . definitely beautiful-worthy.  Kind of a Brad Pitt look there.

So she ran to the door after the knock came.  And after waiting for a minute, she opened it.  They didn't have to seem eager to have him there.  But Lorelai was. And was even more surprised than she had been before.

"Hello" she said as she opened the door.

"Hello, my name is Tristan DuGrey, Is Rory home?" 

"Yeah, I know. . . I'm Lorelai Gilmore, Rory's mom. . . come in, come in" she said as she let him through the door.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Gilmore"

"Oh, no. . . None of that Ms. Gilmore crap, call me Lorelai" she said, as she waved a dismissive hand.

"OK, Lorelai nice to meet you. . . this is for you" he said as he handed her two to-go cups full of coffee.

"You really know how to get into someone's good side" she said, as she took the coffee tray from him. . . "Thank you"

"Well, I figured you were as inclined as your daughter to the beverage. . . and I got these also" he said as he handed Lorelai the bag of pastries.

"Danishes!!" she exclaimed "I missed my Danish today. . . thank you"

"Sure. . . so, um. . . is. . ." but he was caught of mid-sentence.

"Rory. . . yeah, she is here. . . guessed you figured she would ditch the study session? But no, she is very academically-oriented.  I'll go get her." And with this Lorelai walked away "Hey Jen, Tristan's here"

Rory heard this from her room.  Wrong moment to call her by any other name than her own.  "And what is it with the Jen reference?" she whispered to her mother when they were close together in her room.

"Well" Lorelai started whispering also "you left out the part that Bible-Boy has kind of a Brad Pitt thing going for him?"

"Brad Pitt? Are you nuts?"

"Are you blind? The kid is gorgeous"

"I was blinded for a moment, but now I see the light" Rory answered sarcastically.

"Glad to be of service" Lorelai said, and then added "he got us coffee and pastries" she said as she wiggled  both things in front of Rory.

"You see. . . he wan you over, with coffee and pastries, he is evil"

"I can overlook that"

"I bet you can, I'm going over there. . . stop drooling! " Rory said and started walking out of her bedroom and towards the living room.

Tristan had already relieved himself from the weight of his back pack, and was walking around the living room, looking at pictures.  He stopped at one.  Rory was probably around 6, and had a Harvard uniform and pom-poms.  He didn't even have to turn around to know she was there.  He felt her as soon as she had stepped into the living room.  He found that he would pretty much know whenever she walked into any room, whether it was the living room, the classroom, school.  

"Nice picture. . ." he said and turned around "do you still have that outfit lying around. . . I would like to see you in it" he leered.  And he started walking again, looking at more pictures.

"I would like to see you in a body bag, but that's not happening either" she quipped.

"If it would mean you crying over my body and holding me, I would do it"

"That's morbid!" she stated.

"That's how much I want you", he said and was walking to where she was standing.

"Goes to show you how sick you are"

"So Mary. . . not even your own mother calls you by your name. . . I though you said that she had put a lot of work into it"

"She put a lot of thought into that one, also. . . I have many names. . . I'm like royalty."

"Then you won't mind adding Mary to that list?"

"I would. . . but there's a maximum, and I've reached it. . . there are just so many names that can be printed in a certificate.  Sorry!" she answered sarcastically.

"So your mom thinks of me as Brad Pitt, huh?"

"What?" Rory asked a little rattled.

"That's what that Jen reference meant. . . She thinks of me as Brad Pitt and you are my Jen. . ." he said standing really close to where she was, he looked her up and down, and added "But I'm luckier" he finished in a whisper in her ear.

Rory couldn't help but shiver.  And she tried to cover it, but to no avail, Tristan had noticed the effect that last comment had on her.  For once in their usual banter, she didn't have anything to add to his last comment.

"I've set up the kitchen for us to study. . ."

"Great, so shall we?"

"Yeah" she said and led the way.  But he had to go back and get his backpack, and the remaining four cups of coffee.  So she walked over to the kitchen and he entered a few seconds later.

"I've got you coffee, I hope it's alright" he said as he placed the coffee on top of the table, and sat down.

She was a little distracted by the gesture.  And he said it as if it was the most normal thing to say.  As if they had the intimacy of friends.  And the other thing that got to her was the fact that he said '_I've got you coffee' which meant that he had been paying attention to what she did.  "Um. . . sure. . . thanks"_

"I got pastries too. . . but there are only doughnuts left, probably.  Your mom seem fond of the Danishes"

"Yes I was. . ." Lorelai said as she came out of Rory's room and walked toward the living room to watch TV.

"Today was Danish day, but we didn't get there on time. . ." Rory explained as if it was the most natural of conversations.

"Do you have a day for every pastry?" he asked curiously.

"Nope, just for Danish. . . they don't bring them every day" she said as she got some stuff on the table.  Mostly the things that she bought at the market earlier.  She sat on the table next to where he was already sitting.  She took a sip of the coffee " Hey this is Luke's coffee"

"I don't know. . . I got it at this place that has a 'hard. . ." 

"Hardware Store sign. . . yeah, that's Luke's.  You found it, huh?"

"Yeah, after a couple of minutes of driving around the square.  Did he ever consider the fact of removing the sign and putting up one that said 'Diner'"

"It's to keep evil outsiders out of the town, and from drinking our coffee" Rory said.

"So I guess that if I found it the town welcomes me, because I'm not evil" he said.

"Nope, just shows that you have great skills to look for stuff that it's not for everyone."

"So I guess I've done it twice in a week"

"What other amazing discovery took place in your week, Tristan?" she asked sarcastically.

"You" he stated simply, as he looked straight into her eyes.  She was taken aback by this, and blushed deeply.  He just smiled and proceeded to take out some books.  "So. . . where do you want to start"

She took a piece of paper, but when she noticed her hand wasn't as steady as she wished they were, she just slid it towards him.  "I made a list of the things that I am having trouble with. . . you see" she started to explain to him "from where I left on Stars Hollow High, to where you guys where at Chilton. . . I missed a couple of things, and I am trying to catch up, but it's a little harder that I thought it would be."

"Chilton can be overwhelming" he said matter-of-factly.

"Yes it can. . . so do you think you can help me?", she said as she pointed to the list.

He looked at the list. "Yeah. . . but I will have to ask for something in return" he said as he cocked an eyebrow.  

"So close. . ." Rory mumbled "There is no philanthropic side to you, is there?"

"Nope. . . besides it's not as if I am going to ask you to give me a kidney. . . hear me out"

She took a deep breath and stared at him.

"I'll take that as a yes.  I am having trouble with English, and I've seen that you read so much, during free moments and lunch, and I was wondering if you could help me with that"

"Um. . ." Rory couldn't believe it, it really wasn't anything bad.  "Sure, I guess I can do that for you. .  What are you having trouble with?"

"Oh, no. . . It's not just one thing, it's the class in itself."

"So you are telling me that I have to help you through out the semester?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah"

"But, um . . ."

"Rory, I left everything to come and help you in a moment's notice" he said trying to get her to feel guilty and help him.

"Yeah, but. . . I mean. . . we would have to make a schedule or something. . ."

"Whatever it takes. . . I cannot let my grades slip, my father would have me for dinner the day that happens" he said.

"Ok, I guess I can do that", she said hesitantly

"Great."

"Yeah. . . great"

"So what do you say if we start with. . ." And they started their study session.  They went from chemistry, to calculus, to physics, back to chemistry, back to physics.  They went on and on for ours.  

Rory's notes where almost complete.  Tristan brought over photocopies so she could punch holes thru them and placed them in her binder.  _'That way you won't be behind. . . read them through though'_ he said as he handed the notes to her.  

They went thru the four cups of coffee Tristan brought with him (but Rory had three and Tristan had one), the cookies Rory bought, the doughnuts, the soda, more coffee, some chips. . . they basically ate everything Rory had bought.  When she noticed that, she knew that the movie night was out the window.  But she didn't say anything about that.  Lorelai on the other hand. . .

"Hey kids, how's everything going?" she asked in her last interruption.

"We are almost done" Tristan answered as he checked the list Rory had made.

"We are?" Rory asked incredulously.

"Yeah, we just have this little detail in calculus about the integrals and we are done."

"Great" Rory said, excited this time.

"Wow! If I knew better, I'd say that you sounded excited about us being done with this"

"Oh. . . then you do know better, because I was"

"So I guess the movie night is still on?" Lorelai asked Rory, just as excited.  But then noticed the expression on her daughter face and realized what she had just done.

"Movie night?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah. . . Rory and I planned a movie night for tonight" Lorelai started, and Rory was making signs for her to stop "um. . . would you like to stay with us?" Lorelai asked.  Rory just made a face.

"Stay?" Tristan asked, surprised.

"Yeah, you know. . . it involves not moving from your current location."  Lorelai said.

"Um. . . well. . . I don't mean to be rude, and thank you for the invitation, but I do have to head home.  And I wouldn't like to impose on you."

"You wouldn't be imposing" Lorelai said, and Rory just grunted.

"No, that's OK. . . I have to head home, I'll take a rain-check on the invitation if that's OK?" Tristan said as he got up and fixed his backpack to leave.

"Of course. . . you will have to bring coffee, but it's ok"

"I wouldn't dare coming here not bearing coffee"

"Smart boy, this Tristan" Lorelai said to Rory, who wasn't saying much at the moment. 

"Thanks for everything. . ." he said to both Rory and Lorelai "I'll see you tomorrow at school" he said addressing only Rory this time.

"Uh huh. . ." Rory said.

"Good night, Lorelai"

"Good night, Tristan. . . Rory will walk with you to the door"

"Thanks." And Rory and Tristan started walking to the door.  When they reached it Tristan opened the door for the both of them and they stepped in to the porch.

"Thanks for coming. . . you don't know what it meant to me, for you to come and help me"

"I don't know what it meant, but you could show me" he said as he stood right in front of her.

"Then I guess you will never know" she said as she stepped back.

"You will come around, Mary. . . trust me"

"You are amazingly self-assured, did you know that?"

"I just know what to do. . . but I did know that, nice of you to notice though"

"Yeah, I'm quite the observer."

"You're quite a lot of things. . . I could list them for you"

But as he was saying this, he heard the same raspy voice he heard at the diner, calling from the side of the house.

"Hey Rory, who's your friend?"

They both looked over and saw Babette, but this time she had reinforcements: Miss Patty.

"Hey Babette. . . this is my school-mate Tristan"

"Hello Babette, Ma'am" he said to Babette and Miss Patty.

"Yeah, I know. . . we've met at the diner today" said Babette "This is Miss Patty" she said introducing the woman next to her.  They were now standing next to the stairs in Rory's porch.

"_Encantada" said Miss Patty in Spanish, as she extended her hand towards Tristan._

"_El gusto es mio (The pleasure is all mine)" he said as he lightly kissed Miss Patty's hand._

"You know Spanish?" Rory asked.

"Yes, I do. . ."

"What a handsome young man you have here Rory. . . are you sure he is just your school-mate?"  Miss Patty asked as she measured Tristan up and down.

For once Rory didn't see a guy squirm at Miss Patty's lustful gaze.

"Pretty sure. . ."

"Well, if I were a couple of years younger. . ." started Miss Patty.

"_Yo no estoy bendecido con __tanta__ suerte (I am not blessed with that much luck)" he said._

And now, for the first time ever in her life had Rory seen Miss Patty blush.

"Well it was nice meeting you, Tristan.  We hope to see you around more often" Babette said.  Miss Patty was at a lost for words.

"Yeah, I hope to be around here more often also, Babette" he said as he looked at Rory.  

Rory just shifted.  

Miss Patty and Babette left the two teens, discussing what had Tristan said to Miss Patty that made her blush.

"I think I've never seen Miss Patty blush. . . what did you tell her?" Rory asked curiously.

"If it made Miss Patty blush, imagine what it can do to you" he said as he stepped closer to Rory now.

"You are right about that. . ." Rory said, and then added "You are dangerous to mess with Tristan"

"Not all the time. . ." he said and stepped even closer to Rory.

Rory needed a change of topic.

"Wow, a truck.  I never pictured you in a truck"

"So you have pictured me when I'm not around"

"Yeah, I have. . . most of the times the car has ran you over" she said, and he laughed.  And this made her stomach jump a little.

"So I guess there is hope for me, if there are some times that there is no car running me over. . . I can live with that" he said as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"So, why a truck?"

"Escalade 23-inch rims. . ." he stated.

"How very 'Lil Kim' of you. . . are the Bentleys, the Hummers and the Benz' waiting for you at home" she quipped.

"Escalade is made by Cadillac, and my grandfather is very fond of Cadillac. . . so when it was time to get a car for me, I could only think of a Cadillac".  He explained.

"I see"

"Yeah" 

"Um. . . So, thank you so much for tonight. . . I honestly appreciate what you did for me"

"Sure. . . anytime" he said and then pulled a card from his back pocket and fetched a pen from his backpack "Listen, just in case. . . this is my cell phone number, if you ever need me to do anything for you. . . and I do mean anything for you, just call.  Ok?" he said and handed her the card.

"Thanks" she said taking the card from him.

"See you tomorrow, Mary"

"See you tomorrow, Tristan" she said as he was walking away from her.

And with this he unlocked his car with the remote that is attached to the key and proceeded to get in, start it and drive out of the Gilmore's drive way.

~*~

When he left, Rory stayed outside for a while.  She had the piece of paper in her hand and she couldn't describe what she was feeling.  He was so unbearable, cocky, insufferable . . . did he actually look a bit like Brad Pitt?

_Stop asking yourself that, she said to herself, __it will just make it harder for you.   But he did have beautiful eyes, she was sure of that.  Full of many things.  Deep shade of blue that would make just about anyone melt.  He made Patty blush, for God's sake!!  No one had ever done that.  _

Just goes to prove that he was a guy that she had to stay away.  And after today, she would.  Of course she would!

~*~

Tristan couldn't ignore the way he felt when he was next to her.  Having her so close all afternoon was driving him completely crazy.  Who was this girl? Why did she have that effect on him? He was Tristan DuGrey, these things didn't happen to him.  He had never been on the receiving end of those feelings, and that threw him off a little.  He was always the person that would make those feelings felt on other girls, but girls had never made him feel that way.  Ever.  

She was so natural, so intense, so attentive, so sweet, and so beautiful.  And those eyes, were enough to drive a man crazy.  And she wasn't even aware of that.  Could that be? Had she never notice how beautiful she was? Had any guy before him, ever noticed that either?

Just goes to prove that she wasn't a girl to be away from.  And after today, he wouldn't.  Of course he wouldn't!


	3. English

**Disclaimer: **See previous chapters.

**Author's Note.**  Many things.  First, thanks to everyone for reviewing.  I really appreciate it; it means so much to me!  Then, a special thanks to **_crazy4GilmorEGIRLs, Trory4Ever, Rory DuGrey, Ducks, Randi, Chelle, msQTpa2T, ExoticEnigma, ilovegilmoretrory_**: thank you so much, it means a lot to me to be in your lists.  Second, I edited the first chapter of the story, omitting half of it, because (as everyone said) it didn't necessarily have to be there since we all know what happened, right?  OK, so now, we continue with the third installment of this story.

**Dedication.**  To the persons listed above.

**Minus Dean Chapter 3**

Bryce and Josh were two of Tristan oldest friends.  Bryce and Tristan had started Chilton together when they where both five, and basically grew up together, with everything that that meant.  Joshua on the other hand had transferred private schools from Seattle, when his father got promoted to CEO of some major company branched in Hartford, when he was nine.  But Josh fell into Tristan's 'crowd', and grew up with the rest of them as if he had started with them at five.  When they saw Tristan at his locker, they decided to approach him.

"So, DuGrey, where were you last night?" Bryce asked him as they reached Tristan. 

"Yeah, man, you went MIA on us. . .  we called your house and Will told us that you were out" Josh added.

"I had a little pressing matter to take care off" Tristan answered back to both of them as he was opening his locker.

"And we all know what that means" Bryce said as he clapped Tristan on the back.  All three smiling knowingly.

"So, who was it?" Josh asked to continue the conversation going.

"Rory Gilmore" Tristan stated simply, as if it was an every day occurrence.

"Do you mean who I think you mean?" Josh asked amazed.

"Yep. . . that girl" Tristan answered as he was pulling his books out of his locker.

"The new Mary?" Bryce asked incredulously.

"The one and only. . . _my new Mary_" Tristan clarified.

"Do you mean to tell us, that Rory Gilmore, Mary, and you. . ." Josh started.

"Oh, no. . . It has nothing to do with that."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Josh asked confused.

"Pay attention boys." Tristan started, finally meeting the boys' questioning looks for the first time since they started their conversation.  "Last night I was studying and she called me, out of nowhere, and she asked me for help.  She told me that she was behind in a few things and needed assistance."

"And you being the chivalrous man that you are, helped her. . . and then helped yourself" Bryce finished with a wink.

"Yeah, I helped her. .  But didn't help myself" Tristan clarified, going back to pulling books out of his locker.

"You expect us to believe that you and Mary had a whole afternoon together and nothing but a good ol' study session happened" Bryce stated incredulously.

"Yes" Tristan dead panned.

"So you didn't try anything? At all?" Josh questioned him further.

"I didn't say that. . . but I didn't push it, either"

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" Bryce asked.

"Yes, I am feeling quite well actually"

"So you just went over to her house, and studied with her, and then you went home and that's all. . . you helped her out of the goodness of your heart?" Bryce continued.  He needed answers to comprehend his friend's stupidity.  

"Ah. . . Bryce, my friend, here is where you are wrong.  Rory Gilmore, _my Mary, is not your average Chilton-girl.  Charm is beyond her, it does not affect her the way it does others.  I have been asking her out since I saw her. . . trying to convince her in any way I can.  So I decided I needed a plan.  I needed a way in.  And she gave it to me without even knowing.  She let me into her house and her town.  I have a better knowledge, a better understanding, of this girl now.  And I intend to use it to my full advantage."_

"Aaaahh, and the true Tristan arrives" Bryce finally comprehended.

"Sorry we doubted you, man." Josh added.

"Don't you guys know me enough by know. . . this girl is not going to slip away from me.  I am going to make her wish she met me before she did." Tristan said as they started walking towards class.

"It sounds like a lot of work, though" Bryce finished.

_And she is well worth it, Tristan thought to himself._

~*~

Rory descended the bus half a block away from the Chilton's main entrance.  She walked into school in a cloud of blue and gray sweaters and blazers.  People talking among each other, discussing homework and studying, the newest _seventeen _and _Cosmo issue, and how Leo was dating some model named Giselle something-or-other.  Rory on the other hand wasn't talking to anyone, but reading.  The girl had amazing concentration and a great sense of direction since she didn't bump into anything or anyone while she was reading on her way into the school and then her locker._

She approached her locker, closed her book and started spinning her combination and opened it.  She removed her knapsack from her back and lifted a leg to place her backpack on it and pull out the books that she had taken home the day before and placed them inside her locker.  As she was checking her schedule for her first few periods, she heard the now familiar voice.

"Had a good night's sleep last night? Any dreams I might be interested in?" Tristan said as he approached Rory from behind.

"Good morning, Tristan" she said curtly.

At the sound of his name coming out of her mouth like that, even though the tone was totally cold and lacking of any desirable emotion, he still felt some kind of jolt.  The way his name sounded coming out of her lips was just a little sweeter.  No matter the tone or emphasis she gave to it, listening her say his name was always a sure way to make him smile.

"So, Mary. . . do you love me yet?" Tristan asked as he leaned sideways on the locker next to her.

"The word 'love' can be used in so many ways." Rory answered back.

"So you do love me then. . ." he said leaning a little forward.

"I love many things about you Tristan" she said as she turned to him a little while she placed her backpack at the bottom of her locker. "I love the way when I go home I don't get to see you or hear you, I love the way I don't have all my classes with you, I love the time I spend away from you while you are hitting on someone else. . . and the list goes on and on" she finished with a smile.

"So what you are telling me is that you love the fact that I let you miss me. . ."

"You're like Joey. . . you can turn anything to your advantage, don't you?" 

"Yeah, pretty much"

"Wow! That has to take a really big ego and a whole lot of self-assurance. . . I understand why the truck now, you cannot fit that huge head of yours in a sports car."  She said as she turned around and continued to pull out more books. . . ones that she didn't  need until later or at all, just to keep herself doing something.

"That, and more leg room. . ." he said with a wink.

"You're insufferable"

"Last night we where in 'amazingly self-assured', how could I have dropped so fast?"

"Your like a one-hit wonder when it releases a second song. . . you sink just as fast. . . now if you don't mind, class is starting in a few minutes", she said as she closed her locker and started walking away.

"Oh, but you forget my dearest Mary" he said as he caught up with her "that we have English first period, and as of yesterday you are helping me with this class. . . so I guess that it would be better if we sat together and enjoy the teaching abilities of Mr. Remmy, what do you say to that?"

Hesitating, Rory answered "Um, I guess you do have a point on that one."

"Wow! Such a fast and easy agreement.  One could get used to that."

"Well don't." she said as she went into a classroom "This is us."

"Upfront OK with you?" he said referring to the proper desk accommodations for class that day.

"Sure" And they proceeded to walk to the second row next to the window and sat next to each other. 

As they sat on their respective desks, Rory pulled out her latest literary acquisition.  Tristan wasn't used to seating so close to the teachers, but he found that he had to get used to that if he wanted to be next to Rory some more. . . and he did.  He was looking around the classroom, then looking out the window and then looking at the people that were coming into the classroom, and he was bored already.  So he decided to strike up a conversation with Rory.

"What you've got there?" he asked referring to the book, as he turned to her.

"_Mrs. Dalloway_" Rory answered back.

"You will change those reading habits once you start dating me." Tristan stated confidently.

"So you mean to tell me that I'll be reading more, just to avoid you. . . do you think I'll be able to handle it?"

"Handle not reading or handle me?  Because I would say yes on both accounts, although the latter might just be a little more fun than you would expect."

"Oh, I have no expectations regarding you."  Rory quipped.

"So you think I've reached my level of perfection?"

"Or a level of something, although I'm not exactly sure what."

"I'll take whatever I can. . . there is always room for improvement when you don't know 'exactly sure what'" He said.

"How can you turn that to your advantage. . . I said nothing. . . that was a vague statement if I ever heard one."

"I'm like Joey, remember?" He said referring to her previous comparison.

"I forget" Rory deadpanned.

Their banter was cut short though, because of Mr. Remmy's arrival.  They knew that once he entered class, and they both _needed_ to take notes.  Tristan because of class and Rory, because of Tristan.  _What have I've gotten myself into, she thought to herself._

~*~

English, and the rest of the day, went by fairly quick.  Rory still had a couple more classes with Tristan, but she avoided seating close to him.  She found him a little. . . distracting? No, that couldn't be. . . annoying? That should be closer.  Either way, she found that she didn't like the fact that she was a little distracted during class (or the reason of her distraction), and add to that the fact that she was getting death glares all through English by some, or maybe, most of the girls in the classroom, she could even swear that at some moment a girl tried to put a hex on her because she heard her mumble something as she was walking by.  She remembered what she had decided the night before: to stay away from him as much as possible.

Tristan on the other hand wasn't going to let her get away as easily.  He wanted to be close to her.  He didn't want to give her the chance to be away from him.  He wanted to be with this girl and he was going to do whatever it took to be closer to her.  So when lunch time came, he did the only thing that it had to be done.  

As he was coming into the cafeteria, he spotted her.  She was sitting alone in one of the last tables, close to the window.  As he was walking by, Bryce and Josh joined by Nick and Alex tried to get his attention, but he just gave them a sign that he was going over to some other table and they didn't try to stop him.  When they noticed the direction he was heading, they understood.

When he finally reached where she was sitting she had her headphones on and was reading, she was holding a bag of chips in her hand and didn't even notice that he was standing next to her.  He took this few seconds to look at her.  He pocketed his right hand on his grey trousers and placed the other one on the table.

When she noticed the hand, she looked up the length of the arm and finally rested her eyes on his.  He grinned.  Her stomach did a little flip, and she made a mental note not to eat more chips.

"Yes, Tristan?" she asked coldly.

"Why are you here all alone?" He asked showing something that looked like concern.

"To avoid. . . some people" she replied curtly.

"Subtlety isn't your forte, is it?" He said as he pulled a chair and sat right across from her.

"Nope, but then again I wasn't trying to be subtle. . . and I wasn't only referring to you.  There are more people, besides you, that I would like to avoid."

"Avoidance gets you nowhere." He stated as an advice.

"I know.  But being ignored isn't as cracked up to be. . ." she said, sarcastically "besides, I've got my book, my music and my food, so I'm good."

"But you will need friends eventually, don't you think?"

"I've got friends. . . it's just that they don't attend Chilton.  Besides, here it's more important an alliance than a friendship."

"You state the truth." He said.  Trying a change of topic he dove right in "That's another book.  A different one I mean, from the one you where reading this morning."

"You are quite the observant, aren't you?" she said rolling her eyes.

"So tell me Mary, do you ever read something racy, or trashy, or lusty. . . or you prefer to live thru that than read it?"

"We were making progress, and now we are back to square one. . ." she said as she replaced her headphones and went back to her book.  He just smiled and left the table to join his friends.

~*~

"Hey, I'm a little worried" said Josh as Tristan was approaching the table they where seating at.

"Why's that?" Bryce said, following his friend's lead.

"I don't know, I smell smoke. . . you know, like when someone just crashes and burns" Josh finished and they all laughed.

"Very funny, guys. . . really.  Another one of those and my gut will burst from laughter." Tristan said finally straddling a chair at his friends table.

"We are just stating the obvious."  Nick added.  "But then again, some wise person or something said that the truth hurts." They all 'oooh'-ed together and laughed, Tristan included.

"Not that easy. . . huh?" Alex asked, referring to Rory.  He had always been the nicest one.  Sometimes a little dorky, but he was the one that usually gave the advice to all his friends.

"Nope. . . tough nut to crack, that one." Tristan answered Alex.

"Those are always the best ones." Alex said, and Tristan smiled.

~*~

Lunch period was over faster than everyone wanted it to.  And the last few periods didn't go by fast enough.  But, at last, they did.  When the final bell rang, Rory was relieved.  The weekend had finally arrived.  She felt great about that.  She had a couple of hours to spare for today and she was glad about it.  This first week of school, she registered, had been the toughest first week of school she had ever gone through.  The homework, the catching up, the studying, everything had been dreadful.  Add to that, being away from friends and getting used to a uniform and developing a new routine over again, made this first week even worst.

She was glad that it was over, though.

And then she knew that she had thought about it too fast.  She wasn't in a safe environment yet.  She knew that the moment she saw Paris Gellar walking up to her.

"What do you think you are doing?" she said as she finally approached Rory.

"Is there ever going to be a conversation between you and me that won't start with you asking me for an explanation?"

"What do you think you are doing?" Paris repeated.

"What are you talking about?" 

"Tristan"

"What about him?"

"What do you. . ." 

". . . think I'm doing?" Rory interrupted her "Yeah, I got that question.  I just don't understand what you are referring to with that question." 

"Listen Elly May, the fact that you are in this school doesn't mean you belong.  It has been pretty clear I think, since you have been here one week and everyone is still avoiding you. . . well all, except for one."

"What is your problem about that? I thought the school and the Franklyn where your domain, but I don't think Tristan is."

"He isn't. . ."

"As a matter of fact I don't think he has even given you a once-over since I got here."

"I am not saying he is mine.  You have to respect the fact. . ." Paris started.

"Oh, see.  There's the thing.  You are talking about respect.  Then you are talking to the wrong person.  Talk to _him about respect.  I don't need it." Rory said and walked away, leaving Paris standing where they were. . . fuming._

As she exited the main doors of school and started walking outside towards her bus stop, she saw her bus drive by.  She stomped on her foot on frustration, and turned around back to school.  But then she decided that if she went back into school, she might miss the next bus.  So she decided to go back out to the bus stop and sat there.  She pulled out a book from her backpack and started to read.

As she was doing that, she saw a silver sports car stop right in front of where she was seating.  Since she didn't know many of her classmates or what they drove, she figured it might be one of them stopping to make fun of her choice of transportation, so she tried to ignore it.  When she saw the window roll down, she was a little surprised.

"Need a lift?" He asked from the inside of his car.

"No, thank you.  I'm fine." She stated and went back to her book.

"I know you are." He leered.

"Don't you have to go to Muffin of Bambi or someone right now? I don't want to keep you, so be on your way."

"Nah, I saw someone hotter and just called and cancelled."

"Oh, that's sad.  She must be heart-broken.  But it's never too late to renew your plans.  Maybe she doesn't understand what 'cancelled' means, you know?  Being such a big word and all."

"Rory, do you need a ride?" He asked again.

"Was that a sign of the apocalypse? Is the world coming to and end? Did Tristan just called me by my name?" She said acting surprised.

"Very funny.  So, do you?"

"Like I said, I don't need a ride" she started and then, not wanting to be rude, she added ". . . my bus will be here in a few minutes.  But thanks anyway."

He got down from his car and started walking towards the bench.  "Rory, I just saw your bus drive by a few minutes ago, so I'm guessing the next one will be here in. . ." he glanced at his watch "about thirty minutes. . . Please, let me give you a ride.  It's Friday.  Everyone's out of here and so should you."

He was right, it was Friday and she was tired and waiting for her bus would cut into her free time (free time that she deserved!).  She hesitated.

"How 'bout this? I offer you a truce.  I will try my best not to be a jerk or make any kind of leering comment that would make you uncomfortable during the length of our trip back to your house.  It will be a difficult job for me but I will try my hardest.  I promise. . ." and then added "Scout's Honor!" and lifted his right hand with his index and middle finger held up.

She hesitated.  "OK.  But promise. . ."

"I already did."

"Let's go then."

He grabbed her backpack, and they walked the small distance to his car.  He opened the door for her, and closed it as soon as she was inside the car.  He opened the trunk and placed her backpack in it, and closed it afterwards.  And then proceeded to his side of the car.

"Where to, Miss Gilmore?" He asked as he buckled his safety belt.

"Stars Hollow, please" she continued.

"On our way. . . any pressing matter that is waiting for you there, Miss Gilmore?"

"Oh, no. . . Family members, you know the sorts. . ." she continued aristocratically.

"Oh, yes." He said and smiled, not smirked, but smiled.  An honest smile.  And for the first time, Rory actually found herself paying attention to him.  When he smiled, even his eyes sparkled; they turned to a different shade of blue.

"I've never seen you do that, you know?"

"What?" he asked, a little confused.

"Smile, not grin, but actually smile."

"Well, you bring out the best in me."

"What happened to trying your hardest?" she asked, jokingly.

"I said 'no leering comments' I don't remember saying anything of not speaking the truth."

She blushed.  She wasn't used to having so much attention from someone.  Especially a guy.

"Well, it was nice to see you smile." She added sweetly.

His heart fell to his stomach.  He had had many compliments in his life.  He was used to them actually.  But coming from Rory, it added so much more importance to what it was being said.  And the fact that she was paying attention to him, and could tell the difference so early on. . . well, it just made him smile again.  She didn't notice this time.

"So, what happened to the truck?" she asked changing the line of the conversation.

"Oh, well. . . I didn't have time to move the cars around this morning, because I woke up kinda late, so I had to take this one." He said, his eyes still on the road.

"Oh. . . and this one's yours also?"

"Um, yeah. . . this one was gift from my grandparents on my mother's side."

"Oh. . ."

"Yeah. . . so tell me Rory Gilmore, notice that I did not call you Mary. . ."

"I noticed. . . go on."  She said and smiled again.

"Part of my promise not to say anything that would make you uncomfortable.  So, Rory, where do you get your reading habits from?"

"I honestly don't know. . . although I found out just last week, that I share common interests in literature with my grandfather, so I guess that maybe from him."

"What do you mean by 'lately'?"

"Well," she started "we haven't been all that close over the years"

"Because of the, um. . ." Tristan asked a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, because of that. . ." she was glad in a way that she didn't have to explain; but felt a little bad, because he also knew about everything that happened.  She turned her head to see outside the window.

And he noticed.

"If you ask me, it shouldn't have been that big of a deal really.  But that's how our families have been brought up, right?" He said, understandingly.

She was a little surprised at this.  

"Yeah. . . I guess."

"For whatever's worth, I'm glad it happened."  He looked at her "Because of, well, you."

She blushed again.  

Ever since she had met him, she had thought that what made her uncomfortable around him were the leering and the innuendoes that where laced to every comment he ever directed her way.  But this time, he was being nice to her, speaking sincerely.  He wasn't calling her Mary.  He wasn't smirking, _but smiling.  He was a totally different Tristan._

"And you're not missing much, really.  Sometimes grandparents can be a pain."

"Oh, well. . . I actually like my grandparents.  They are nice.  A little overprotective, but nice people nonetheless." She said, glad at the change of pace in the conversation.

"So, do you have a favorite book? One that you have read over and over again, and you still say 'wow!'?" He said going back to their previous topic.

"I have so many. . . I loved the classics, the English, the Russians. . . I don't think I have a favorite really.  Although if I had to pinpoint one, I would say that anything written by Jane Austen, trite as it may sound, is always a good choice for me.  Do you read much?"

"I like reading. . . not as much as you do, but then again I don't think there is someone that loves reading as much as you, but I enjoy it."

"Then why are you having trouble with English?" She asked curiously.

"Well, you see.  I like reading, it's the essay part of reading school stuff that I don't like.  And then all that writing stuff and everything, I don't like that part.  Make me build some kind of model for something, and I can do that well, but writing isn't my thing."

"I understand.  But if you don't like writing, how am I supposed to help you in English?"

Busted.  Almost.  "Well, you see.  I figured that if I had someone to push me to do this kind of stuff then I would be fine.  And it would be even greater if the person knows what they are talking about."  He said.  She nodded in understanding.  _And the umpire yells, SAFE!_, he thought to himself.

The trip was almost over.  A few more exits (approximately 5 more minutes) and they would be in Stars Hollow and a few minutes after that, at Rory's house.  And Rory found herself a little disappointed.

"We're almost there.  You are almost out of this misery."  He stated with a  self-deprecating tone.

"Contrary to my believes, this was actually nice.  Thank you, Tristan.  Really."

"You are taking this time to thank me so you won't have to put up with anything afterwards, aren't you?"

"You caught that, huh?" she asked as she scrunched her nose a little, and smiled.

"It was a little obvious" he smiled back.

"I went in to fast, didn't I?" she said testing him.

He almost made his lips bleed, from biting them, fighting the urge to say something that would put him back on her bad side.  He smiled, as she did. "Yeah, it was a little too soon.  Timing is everything." He said, and they both smiled again.

"So, Rory. . . what are you doing right now?"

"Oh. . . Um, well. . . I. . ." She started, but couldn't say anything.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you out, _yet.  I was just wondering that, since Mr. Remmy, gave us an assignment for Monday, that maybe we could do it right now?" He said trying to score a little more time with the new object of his infatuation._

"Oh, well. . ."

"That way, it would be out of our way. . . and I would be out of your hair for the weekend."

"Um. . ." she pondered and then continued "sure. . . we could get that out of both our ways, right?"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Would you mind if. . ." 

"Not at all."

"To what did you just agree to, Tristan.  I didn't even finish asking the question."

"Well Rory, I pay a lot of attention.  And I know that what you where thinking of is, stopping for coffee.  And besides I would never deny anything you ask for."

"Wow. . . you learn fast." She said as she tried to ignore the last part of his answer "Maybe it won't take us that long to work on your English class."

"Oh, that will take me longer.  I know that for a fact."  He said as he stopped in front of Luke's.  As they descended out of the car, he asked "Are you that eager to get rid of me, Mary?"

"You were dying, weren't you?" she asked as she rounded the car, and they both walked inside Luke's.

"Yeah, I was. . ." He said, with a  hint of a smile.

"Well, goes to show you that you shouldn't promise things that are that hard for you?" She said as they walked up to the counter.

"Then where's the challenge that makes you keep a promise?" He asked rhetorically "And besides" he added "If I hadn't promised you that, you would have never accepted my offer for a ride and you would still be sitting under that tree in front of Chilton" He stated matter-of-factly.

"So, your promise saved me?"

"Actually no.  _I saved you."  He said pointing his thumb to his chest._

"A couple more of those, and I will promote your sainthood."

"You do that."

"_Do you need more time?" _ Luke interrupted, since he had been watching the banter exchange going back and forward, and they didn't even pay attention "Or could I get you something that will hold you until you are ready to order?"

"Hi Luke."  Rory started "We'll get four coffees to go, please. . . although. . ."

"What?"  Tristan asked.

"Would you like to stay here for lunch? I know for a fact that there is nothing at home."

Luke growled and walked away from them to service some other costumer, which was calling for his attention.

"If I had known that all it took to go out with you was to give you a ride, I would have done it the first day of school."  He said as he leaned on the counter.

"You can starve if you want to.  I'm getting my food to go now."

"Are you sure there is nothing at your house that we can whip up?"

"You know how to whip up?" Rory asked incredulously, with a hint of a smile.

"I'm the master at that too. . ."

"Too?"

"Well, there are many things I can do, that I would be more than glad to show you if you are interested."  He said as he leaned towards her.  

She was dumbfounded for a second, and against her wishes, she blushed at the comment.  He smiled.  

Luke cleared his throat.

"Have you decided yet?" he said, throwing death glares in Tristan direction.

Tristan turned still smiling and answered to Luke.  "I think we are going to stay for lunch"

"You're that kid. . . from yesterday.  The coffee kid."

"Yes, sir I am."

"Luke this is Tristan.  Tristan this is Luke, known as provider of life at home."

"Nice to meet you, Luke."  Tristan said politely.

"You better watch it kid. . . If you slip, I will find out.  Now, go sit down and decide what you are going to have, because I already know what Rory is having."

"I'll have the same thing she is having."

"Are you sure?" Luke and Rory asked in unison.

"Yeah."

Luke and Rory just looked at each other.

Rory and Tristan proceeded to sit at a table near the window.  Luke went into the kitchen to place their orders.

As they were sitting they saw two familiar figures (to both Rory and, now, Tristan) coming down the street towards Luke's.

They heard the little bells above the door chime, as they came into the diner.

"Patty, look who's there, that handsome kid from yesterday. . . Rory's friend."  Came the raspy voice from behind.  

Since Tristan had his back to the door, he just flinched and closed his eyes, and when Rory saw this, she waved at them.

"Hey Babette.  Hey Miss Patty" she said with a devilish-kind of a smile, as she kept an eye on Tristan.  It was his turn to throw death glares.

"Hi Rory. . . Hello Tristan" greeted Miss Patty.  But the tone of voice when she greeted Tristan said so many things. . .

"Hola Patty, (Hi Patty)" He said as he lifted himself up from the chair and grabbed her hand and kiss the back of it "siempre es un gusto volver a verle (it is always nice seeing you again)"

"Such a charmer, this kid."  Patty said.

"Two days in a row. . . that's a lot" Babette added.

"I guess I just lucked out."  He said looking at Rory "If you don't mind I would like to go and wash up.  Excuse me."  He said and got up and went on his way to the men's room.

"Rory, that kid is scrumptious!" said Miss Patty.

"Yeah, he's a looker, that kid. . . you be careful, or he could break your heart.  The ones that look like him always do."

"Well then I'm safe, because I don't plan on going out with him" Rory stated with a small smile.

"Oh, he will find a way to change your mind. . . and you will."  Miss Patty added.

"Well, see you around Rory. . . we're here for the coffee."  And they both proceeded to order to cups of coffee to go.  Tristan would be relieved by that.

When Tristan came out of the bathroom, they were gone.  He had taken long in the bathroom, he needed to regroup.  After being close to Rory for so long and talking to her in what she might call a 'civilized manner', he had too.  It had taken a lot out of him to behave himself properly, but he needed to show Rory that there was more to him than what she thought she knew.

He went to the table and was surprised to see a huge burger sitting on his side of the table, and another one the same size on her side.  And she was eating it with her fingers and everything!

"I have to say I am surprised beyond belief."

"And, why's that?" she asked.

"I never thought that I would live to the day that I would see a girl eat a hamburger. . . and add to that, the fact that she has fries and ketchup also."  He said as he sat back at the table.

"Well I am not like everyone else you know." She said turning her attention to her burger again.

"I knew that, yet you just confirmed it." He said as he started eating his own burger and fries.  

Rory, swallowed.  "Why are you so surprised?" she asked, going back to their previous topic of conversation, a little amused by his statement.

"I take it you don't see most of the girls at Chilton." 

"They are part of the crowd I am trying to avoid."

"They asked for half an order of salad and eat only half of it.  All they drink is water and they exercise twice."

"A week?"  Rory asked incredulously.

"A day." He answered as if she should have known that.

"Wow!"

"Wow, indeed."

They went on, eating their food and talking.  When they were done, and after an exhausting discussion, Tristan paid for the check and then they where on their way to Rory's house. . . with the initial four cups of coffee.

~*~

When they got to Rory's house they went into the kitchen.  Rory carried her backpack and Tristan carried his, a bag with his laptop. . . and the coffee.  

They settled back at the kitchen table, just as they had the night before.  Tristan pulled out his laptop from the bag and they both started working on their assignment.

Rory had to push Tristan along to make him write the essay.  She had pulled her dictionary and, later on, another dictionary with synonyms to make everything easier for him.  But then she noticed that he didn't need them, since he had a pretty extensive vocabulary.  He pretty much used the dictionary to check on his spelling, since most of the time the 'spell check' on the computer was so unreliable.

When it was around 6 in the afternoon  (two hours later than when they had arrived)  Lorelai had called and told Rory that she was going to be late, because there had been a little problem at the inn.  She had mentioned Sookie and some plate combined with the wrong kind of wine.

Working with him didn't turn out to be as bad as she thought it would be.  She thought that the night before had been that way because she had prepared a packed agenda.  But it turned out that that was the way he worked.  And she liked the pace he had when they were working.  It didn't even seem as helping him, since he hardly bothered her.

As it had been the day before, she drunk three out of the four cups of coffee.    

Time flew by.

When they both noticed it was almost 7 o'clock.  And he decided that he needed to go.

As he was getting ready to leave, Lorelai came in the front door and closed it hurriedly.

"Ror. . . come look!! There's this beautiful silver sports car in the driveway.  Who do you think is over at Babette's, with such a fancy ride?" Lorelai said as she peeked thru the window.

"Mom. . ." Rory, who was standing by the stairs with Tristan, was watching amused as Lorelai tried to get a look from her window to Babette's.

"I know you don't care about cars, but this one is beautiful.   I mean, the guy must be loaded." She said still not looking at them.

"Some might think that, but I own nothing."  Tristan said with an amused smile on his lips.  Rory stifled a laugh.

Lorelai turned around to, finally, look at them.  "Wow! Talk about getting your foot on your mouth. . . Hi Tristan!"

"Hi Lorelai."

"Hey Mom."  Rory finally greeted.

"Why didn't you tell me we had company?" Lorelai asked.

"You didn't let me.  Besides the car is in _our _driveway."

She peeked again thru the window and smiled, a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Tristan." She asked apologetically.

"It's OK."

"So are you staying over for dinner?" Lorelai asked.  This time, although she got a little glare from Rory, it was a little less intense than the one she had given her yesterday.

"Oh, um. . . we went to Luke's and. . ."

"He is not use to eating like we do."  Rory stated.

"How do you figure?" Lorelai asked as she went to hug her daughter and they both looked at Tristan, discussing him as if he wasn't there.

"He made the mistake to ask for the same thing I did."

"Amateurs."

"My thoughts exactly."

"What do we do about him?"

"It would be safe to let him go.  He is probably stuffed, still."

He watched the dialogue with a glint of amusement in his eye.  In a way he was glad.  Glad about what, he didn't know, but glad.

"We have dinner tonight!!!" They both said in unison.

"Dinner? What dinner?" Tristan asked confused, he didn't understand that they had just changed the topic.  And then he saw them running around frantically.  "Rory?" he asked as he finally got a hold of her.

"I forgot about this, but every Friday we have to have dinner with my grandparents.  It's a long story.  I am so sorry about this. . ." she stopped to think a little "It's a family thing, but you are welcome to come if you want to."

"Don't worry about it, I should be heading home anyways."

"I'm sorry, I am really not trying to be rude."

"I understand, it's OK." He said as he started to get his things.

"Are you sure you don't want to go? I just feel bad about doing this."

"It's really OK.  You don't have to."

"OK! Thanks.  Let me walk you to the door." 

They started walking to the door and out to the porch.

"Thanks for the help." He said as he stood on a lower step than where she was standing.

"Your welcome.  Thanks for the ride. . . and for lunch."  

"Your welcome."

"So I guess, I'll see you on Monday." She said.

"Yeah, Monday" He said.

He then leaned in, and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, lingering a little longer than he should have.  But when he pulled away from her, he saw that she had blushed.  

"Good Night, Mary." He said as he smiled.

"Good Night, Tristan." And his smile faltered a little at the mention of his name.  She said it as if she had been saying it all of her life.  And then she smiled.

She turned around and went into the house, just as he drove off on his way back to Hartford.


	4. Tristan

**Disclaimer.  **See previous chapters.

**Minus Dean 4**

He was talking to himself.  But he couldn't believe what he had done.  It was incomprehensible.  One thing's not wanting to stay away from Rory, but kissing her as if they had the oldest of friendships.  What the hell was she? His closest friend? Did he think that she was the kind of girl that would find that charming, or tempting, or whatever?

Well, she wasn't.  Not that he knew that for a fact, but he figured she wasn't.  

With Rory, it was like that time that George in _Seinfeld did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to be done.  Rory was like that, being the exact opposite of any girl that attended Chilton he should figure that with her, he should do the exact opposite._

Granted, it was just a simple gesture.  And a nice experience.  He had kissed many girls.  In fact, the 'kiss on the cheek' was a common thing to him with girls.  It was a step before the big thing, the great good-ol' make-out session.  It was a move.  A very finely tuned move.  But this time the results had been the opposite.  He had felt everything - unlike the other times with the other girls that he felt nothing -, with Rory it had been different.  The moment he leaned in he closed his eyes and let all of his other senses take over.  He could smell her hair – a mixture of wild flowers -, he could feel her skin, he could smell her perfume – something soft and fresh -, and what he enjoyed the most. . . listening how she caught her breath when he leaned in – and this brought a smile to his face.

When he finally arrived at his house in Hartford, he parked his car behind the other ones.  Someone will fix them later on, for the meantime he was going to go and talk to his life long confidant: Will.

Will had been and important part in Tristan's life.  He had given strength when he needed it.  He had advised him, when need to.  Tristan trusted him completely.  He knew that there would be no way that he would ever betray him. . . under _any _circumstances.

He went directly to the kitchen, using the service entrance just so he could avoid running into any unwanted guests – there usually was at his house mostly a friend of his mom's that would try to set him up with her daughter, by telling him what a lovely girl she was, and how they would make a fine couple, and then he would nod and smile and after they where gone ask his mother to tell him when there were people over.  And she tried, but sometimes it was impossible to call and tell him and he would run into them at the house. . . it was a cycle, an uncomfortable one.

So one day he decided that he would use some other entrance and avoid all that completely.

As he was going into the house he ran into the one person that he wanted to see.  He was preparing some cold cuts for the people that came over to visit his mom.  He took a seat in front of the counter that Will was working at.

Tristan sighed.

Will smiled.

And Tristan started talking.  "So, how you've been Will?"

"I've been fine, Master, thank you. . . how about you?"

"Oh, well. . ."

"May I prepare something for you?"

"No, I ate enough for three meals today, so you shouldn't worry about breakfast tomorrow either." Tristan joked.

"That much?" Will asked.

"You have no idea how much."

"And how did this happen?"

"Well, you see. . . there's this girl" Tristan started.

"Oh!" Will exclaimed, looking at Tristan.

"Oh, indeed my friend"

"I always like the stories that start with 'there's this girl'. . . and with you, Master, they always start like that.  Would you mind holding that story for me while I take this to your mother?" Will asked as he lifted the tray with the cold cuts in it.  Everything else had already been served.

"No, go right ahead."

"Wait here, Master, I'll be back in a minute."  And Will departed to complete his task.  Tristan waited where he was sitting for Will to get back.

He didn't take long.

"So, Master Tristan. . Carry on with your story."

"What's with the whole 'Master' thing? I thought we were past that by now" Tristan asked.

"I do believe, Master, that Emily Post has reappeared.  Your mother emphasized the need to call you Master.  We are only following orders."

"But I thought I was on the 'in-between' phase. . . you know, neither Master nor Mister."

"Apparently your mother thinks that not using a title to address you with is not proper."

"Can you not call me Master? At least when we are away from my mother?"

"Will that make you more comfortable?"

"Yep."

"OK. . . so tell me about this girl."

"Where should I start?"

"How about the beginning.  It is popular belief that it is a good place to start with a story."

"Always the comedian. . .  I met her in school –she's new, just transferred – and she is beautiful."

"They always are." Will clarified.

"But she's different" and at Will's incredulous look, he added "really! She is not only pretty, but smart, and doesn't take anything from anyone."

"Not even from you?"

"Especially not from me.  She has turned me down every single time I've tried to approach her.  It is deflating my ego."

"Is she worth it?"

"Every try and effort."

"So she is different."

"That's what I've been telling you."

"Why?"

"Why, what?" Tristan asked confused.

"Why is she different than any other girl?"

Tristan pondered.  Then smiled and answered "She's smart.  She isn't intimidated by things that would normally intimidate someone our age – and if she is, she doesn't show it.  She keeps me on my toes.  She has this quality to her, she seems so innocent that you want to protect her.  She likes stuff someone our age wouldn't normally like.  She is goal oriented.  She reads several books at a time. . ."

"So she is different than anyone you've _ever known."_

"I thought we had already established that."

"I know.  But you describe her, and your facial expression changes.  I've never seen that happen with any other girl before.  She must be one amazing girl."

"Oh, she is.  Believe me."

"So how long has she been attending Chilton?" 

"Since Monday" 

"And would it be safe to assume, that you are worried?"

Tristan didn't answer.

"What is it that worries you?"

"I have no idea."

"Would you like to listen to my two cents, Mas. . . Tristan?" 

"By all means."

"If she really is like you are describing her, and I think she is, then what worries you is that you don't know how to handle. . ." at this Tristan gave him a I-know-how-to-handle-girls look, and Will added "not handle her, but handle the situation"

"You think?" Tristan asked sarcastically.

"She is completely different to what you are used to.  Just the fact that she doesn't giggle. . ."

"She is not the giggling type" Tristan interrupted.

". . . just the fact that she won't giggle when you address her puts her on a different league.  On a _League of her Own minus the baseball reference.  She is different, and one worries when dealing with different.  Does not mean that one does not know how to deal with it, it just takes a little more time to learn how."_

"Your two cents sounded more like a quarter."

"What I am saying is that you don't have to know how to handle every situation.  You are young and you still have a lot to learn.  Don't think that with puberty comes knowledge, because it doesn't.  Your teenage years are time so you can learn how to handle a small part of what is to come.  You just don't have to rush to get all the answers.  Your teens won't last long enough for that."

"So what you are saying is that I need to take my time to get to her?"

"Not take your time to _get_ to her, just time to _get to know_ her.  If she is different and complex, then you have your work cut out for yourself there.  Take every time she gives you to learn from her and about her.  I think that after that, and if you are your true self, the outcome of it will be a positive one."

"You should have been my butler when I was his age.  All that sage advice would have come in handy when I was tormented and misunderstood.  My Nanny wasn't as wise as you are" Candace DuGrey said as she was walking towards where they were talking in the kitchen.  Neither one of them had noticed her standing by the door.

"Mam, I didn't know you were here."

"I came in around the league of her own reference, and I couldn't bring myself to cut in the middle of your advice." She said referring to Will.  "Hello, son" she said as she placed a small kiss on Tristan's forehead "how was your day?"

"It was. . . good.  How was yours?" He asked his mom as she walked towards the water filter near the stainless steel sink.

"Good.  Until that retched Mrs. Andrews came over with that boring girl that is her daughter and I can't, for the life of me, remember what her name is"

"The young girl's name is Cassandra" Will told her.

She snapped her fingers.  "Yes, Cassandra. . . thanks Will.  I think they were hoping to catch a glimpse of my handsome son" she said, grinning, as she brought her glass of water to her lips.

"Well your handsome son knows better by now and comes in by some other door, so he can avoid your nose-y friends and they're boring daughters."

"So, new girl in your life Tristan?"

Tristan smiled.  "You could put it that way"

"What other way is there to put it?" she asked confused.

"We could say that she is in the vicinity."

"I think I like her already.  You should arrange for me to meet her."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because any girl that is not throwing herself at you, is worth knowing by your mother"

"So, you –my mother" he said pointing a finger to his chest "want to meet a girl that is not interested in me."

"No, your mother wants to meet the girl that is making you think of ways to win her over.  That alone, proves that she is worth it."

"Shouldn't you be going back to your visitors?"

"Yeah, I should.  I will.  We'll continue this later" she said as she started to walk out of the kitchen.

"There's no way we are discussing this further" he said with a small smile.

"If you don't want to continue this further with me, I think your father would be interested on the background of this girl.  What did you say her name was?"

"I didn't say.  And how's after your visits are gone work for you?"

"Just great." She said and winked back at him.  And then left the kitchen.

"How did I get into this Will? Discussing my love-life with my mother?"

Will just smiled.

~*~

When Rory went into the house, she had a hand on her cheek.  That simple gesture, had gotten to her, she couldn't believe it but it did.  

For a second she had seen him doubt the move.  He had pondered, just for a second.  And then he just leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

She had taken that moment to close her eyes, just for a second to enjoy all the emotions.  She had been nervous.  But when she closed her eyes she had let all of her senses take over.  She listened at how he breathed in when he leaned in, and she could smell a mixture of cologne and soap, and a hint of leather (that she figured was from the seats in his car), she felt his well-shaved skin touch hers.  She smiled.

"Rory" she heard her mother call from the stairs with one shoe on her foot and the other in her hand "stop daydreaming and go get ready, we are already late as it is"

She returned to reality and proceeded to her room to do as she had been told. . . or at least she went to get ready.

Dinner at the grandparents had been uneventful.  

Emily hardly spoke.  They both figured that it was because they had been late.  Emily Gilmore did not like unpunctual people.

They were forced to promise to be punctual next Friday.

~*~

Tristan, unlike many of the boys and girls of Hartford society, had a semi-normal relationship with his mother.  She had always been a good mother to him.  She had married his father (10-years-and-some-moths older than she was) when she had been 25.  They had traveled around as a just-married couple for two months, as their honeymoon.  When they got back they started trying to get pregnant.  It only happened five years later after they married.  They had had Tristan, and Tristan's father had decided that it would be best if they only had one son.  Tristan's mom and dad had started drifting apart a little as they grew older.  They still loved each other very much, and were still married.  But now that their age difference was more noticeable (she was currently 47 and he was 58), it was making it more difficult for them.  But Tristan's mom always said _If love is too easy, then it's not love but fondness; love always takes so much more work, and it has always been worth it._

Tristan's father's a strict man that is really involved in the society responsibilities that come with a name such as DuGrey and, of course, his company.  He has been a good father, but Tristan had a better mother.  She could play the society lady well, but never enjoy it.  That's why Emily Post appeared and reappeared in her life.  She said that she had to polish her manners every once in a while.  Tristan would just smile at that.  

He still had his problems with both his mother and father.  He had a better relationship with his mother than the one he had with his father.   The pressure to behave in a _DuGrey Manner_ always came from his father, and Tristan hated it. . . although he always did it well.  School was proof of that.

When his mother's visitors finally decided to leave (a little disappointed that they didn't get to see Tristan), Candace DuGrey went to look for her son.  He was in the library entertaining the idea of picking up a book that wasn't for school.

"English project?" She asked as she came in.

"Nope, just browsing." He said never leaving his task.

"How's English going?" she questioned him, as she knew her son was having a little trouble with the subject.

"I've got myself a tutor. . ." he said with a book in his hands, and then finally looked at his mother and added "or maybe I should call her a study partner" he said in a wondering kind of way.

"So you've got a girl for a study partner?"

"Yes" he said and went back to his browsing.

"Who is she?"

"Some girl at school" he answered vaguely.

"I figured that much.  I'm asking for a name."

"You won't know her, she's new at school."

"So new girls don't have names?"

"Nope" he answered, grinning "but I gave her one that suits her perfectly"

"You're always so thoughtful" she said.

"Her name's Rory. . . but I call her Mary" he said with a little spark in his eye.

"You are still doing that.  I hope she smacks you every time you call her that"

"She's beyond smacking.  She throws witty remarks."

"So you banter a lot then? Because I know my son isn't one to stay quiet" she stated.

"Yes we do.  It's fun with her."

"Is that where you were this afternoon?"

"Yeah, we were doing some homework that we had for the weekend.  English, you know?"

"Does Rory have a last name?"

"You're doing it again"

"What? What am I doing?" his mom asked innocently.

"That thing that dad does.  The one where you are trying to find out who is she and where does she come from." He said looking at her again.

"I'm sorry, but unlike your father I just care to know who my son is hanging out with"

"Gilmore" he said nonchalantly.

"Oh," Candace said, and then realization hit her "Oh!"

"Yeah, well. . ."

"Is she. .  you know. . . related to, um. . ."

"On both accounts, yes"

"Oh!"

"Could you do some other exclamation?"

"Wow!" 

"Better" he said sarcastically.

"So, how is. . ."

"She is exactly like Lorelai, although I think she just might have something of her father."

"You've met Lorelai?"

"Yes."  He deadpanned.  "Great person."

"Yes, she is.  She never took anyone's crap, not even her parents"

"Sounds like her."

"And sounds like Rory too."

"Yeah" he said letting his guard down a little.

"I would really like to meet her, if I get a chance."

"That would be difficult to arrange"

"Why?"

"I am not exactly on her good side"

"She's tutoring you, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but. . "

"Well, if you weren't on her good side, she wouldn't be helping you."

"She's nice that way."

"Which means that probably you are in the vicinity of the good side" She answered, just as he had minutes before.

"May be."

"Do you want to be on her good side?" she asked.

"I don't know mom"

"Because it seems to me as. . ."

"You know what mom?" he interrupted her "I don't want to talk about this anymore, if you don't mind."

"Is that what you want?"

"Yeah" he said, and then added apologetically "I don't mean to be rude to you mom, I really don't, but I don't know as of yet what I want, or what this means, and at the moment I don't want to wonder about it if you don't mind."

"I don't.  It's Ok, you're entitled to your privacy."

"It's not because of privacy, it's just that I don't want to make a big deal out of something that could be nothing."

"That's Ok, Tristan.  So, have you decided on a book?"

"Not really," he said with a hint of a smile.

"I have a couple of suggestions, if you want. . ."

"Suggest away" he said, and gesture with his hands.

She proceeded to name him a couple of books, and he finally took the first suggestion his mother gave him: Hemingway.  He figured he could probably like that.

~*~

**Author's Note.  This was a filler chapter.  Next chapter will be up soon.  I just figured that everyone needed to know where Tristan stood about the whole issue.  I hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Movie Night

**Disclaimer.**  See previous chapters.

**Minus Dean 5**

Saturday came.  After the talk with his mother he figured that his father would soon find out, and he didn't want to hear what he had to say about it.  The opinion his father gave him about the girls he chose was never a good one, and he didn't want to be influenced by his father's opinion nor wanted to hear it.  He loved his father, as difficult as he could be at times, but his thoughts about the girls Tristan dated where always bad.  How he couldn't be seen with _her_ or how _she would be a great person to marry.  _

Tristan always wanted to scream when his father said that a certain girl was a proper match for him.  He was 16 for god's sake! He wasn't thinking about a long-term relationship, let alone marriage.  In fact, if he could get the benefits of the 'relationship' without the actual relationship he would be more than glad to take that.  

So that Saturday he found himself wandering around.  He went to Bryce's and they went to pick up Josh.  But they bailed early, since they both had dates.

"What the hell is wrong with you DuGrey?"  Bryce asked when Tristan revealed that he didn't have a date for Saturday night.  "I mean, you usually have a date for Saturday night lined up since Monday or Tuesday at the latest."

"Well I don't today" Tristan answered.

"But why?" Josh asked.

"It probably has to do with the Gilmore chick" Bryce told Josh.

"It has nothing to do with her. . . in fact I've been hitting on girls even with Rory there"

"So she is Rory now? What happened to Mary?" Josh asked with a grin.

"Mary is just to tease her" Tristan answered "She's not here right now, so what's the point."

"Are you sure you don't want to go out with us? I bet there is someone out there that would cancel her plans for a date with you." Josh said.

"Nah, I don't want to go out today.  Not in the mood." Tristan shrugged.

"Tristan DuGrey not in the mood for dating.  Now there's a first."

"Stop giving me grief about it, ok? I don't want to get caught up today trying to reassure a girl that she doesn't have lipstick on her teeth or convincing her that the reason that I didn't ask her out earlier is because I thought that she might be busy when in actuality I didn't even consider asking her out in the first place, or whatever it is I have to say to make her feel important."

"Suit yourself then."  Bryce said.

~*~

When Tristan finally arrived at Bryce's and dropped him off, he asked him once again if he was sure of not wanting to go out with them.  That probably Adriana (his date for Saturday) had a friend that would drop everything she had to do for a chance to date Tristan. . . even if he called at the last minute.

But Tristan assured him that he didn't want to go out with them.  They said their good-byes and went on their ways.

In the back of his mind, Tristan already had a plan of what he was going to do. 

~*~

"How about if we do independent tonight?" Lorelai asked from one of the video racks.

"What do you have in mind?" Rory asked her, from her own rack.

"_Amy's O_, and the one where this girl from Dawson's Creek does a British accent and. . ." Lorelai said as she wondered around.

"How about international? Along the lines of _Amelie, And Your Mother Too and. . . __Italian for Beginners."_

"The second teacher they get is kind of hott." Lorelai stated, smiling.  "How about we do. . . Keanu?" she said with a wink.

"Dirty" Rory said, distractedly.

"You learn well." Lorelai grinned "but really, how about _Sweet November, Hardball and. . . Bill and Ted's Great Adventure.  I just love hearing him say: Wow!"_

"How about Brad Pitt meets George Clooney. . . _Meet Joe Black, From Dusk till Dawn and Ocean's Eleven."_

"How about Johnny Depp meets Leo DiCaprio. . ."

"That's not an option, we did that last week."

"But there are so many to choose from" Lorelai whined.

"My point exactly"

"Your mean"

"And you are being repetitive with our themes"

"Your mean"

"And now you're just being repetitive" Rory said and Lorelai smiled.

"How about this. . . speed picking.  No checking description, just pick them out of the rack in no specific order and we meet at the counter in one minute with two movies each"

"You're on!" 

And they both picked two movies and met at the register.  They didn't look at what the other one had picked.  Then, they went to Doose's to get junk food, and stopped at Joe's Pizza Place.  They got two large pizzas because they couldn't decide on which toppings to choose.

When they finally arrived at home Rory took out the movies and Lorelai got the extra cheese for the pizza, a couple of glasses and soda.  When she came to the living room again she met Rory's disapproving glare.

"You could hurt someone with that.  I, on the other hand, am immune to that look.  Growing up with Emily Gilmore, you develop an extra layer." She said as she sat on the floor, Indian style.

"_Bill and Ted's Great Adventure and What's Eating Gilbert Grape_?  I thought you said speed picking."

"It was.  You don't get speedier than knowing already what you want."  Lorelai said as if it was the most logical thing in the world "Besides, what did you pick?" she said as she lifted the boxes with Rory's picks "_Seven and About a Boy?"_

"Different picks" Rory said with a self-satisfied look.

"One of them with the same actor you had already proposed. . . and I bet that there was a moment where you hesitated and wanted to bring your suggestions"

"Yes, but I don't cheat. . . unlike others"

"Cheating is fun" Lorelai said, smiling.

"You won't think that when you are being asked your opinion about cheating in court"

"In court?''

"If the event ever presents itself"

"So, you are sending me to court?"

"It's only hypothetical"

"So you are sending me to hypothetical court?  And what delinquent activity would I be involved in that would require me to go to court?"

"Cheating, of course. . ." Rory answered matter-of-factly.

At this moment the doorbell rang.  Lorelai got up to answer the door.  "Put one of my picks first" she said as she was walking in direction to the door.

"Ok" Rory said, as she placed one of her picks, _About a Boy, in the VCR._

~*~

He had been a little anxious about his decision.  For a moment he considered getting back into his car and leaving.  They would never know he was there.

And after a few minutes of pondering, he finally decided to stay.

Before he could chicken out, he walked towards the front door and rang the doorbell.

The few minutes that he waited for the door to open, seemed as if they where the longest ones.  He just wanted to get this over with.

After the conversation with Will, and then his mother, the night before he figured that he needed to sort out a few things.  First of all, he needed to know if he wanted to be on her good side to begin with.  He knew one thing for sure, he liked her. . . a lot.

She was different and that intrigued him.  

She turned him down, and that just made him want to be with her more.

And then the door swung open.  Lorelai was on the other side.

~*~

"Tristan!" Lorelai exclaimed surprised as the young man stood before her.

"Good night, Lorelai" he said politely.

"This is a surprise, is Rory expecting you?" she said, without asking him to come in.

"No. . .I was wondering if there was a chance for me to cash the rain check from the other day"

"Did you bring coffee?"

"I wouldn't dare to come here not bearing coffee" he repeated the same phrase from the day the offer was extended.

"Access granted" she said as she stepped away from the door. "Come in, come in" she said as she gestured for him to step into the house.

~*~

When Rory heard Lorelai say his name.  She jumped and her senses tuned in for a better 'reception' of what was being said at the door.

She didn't dare to move from her spot.  Instead, she stayed rooted to it listening at the exchange of wit that was going on at her front door.

It was Tristan.

~*~

"Hey babe, look who's here?" Lorelai said, enjoying the look in her daughter's face.  It was priceless.

"Hey Rory" Tristan said, standing next to Lorelai.

"Hey" Rory said.

"I'm going to get you a glass.  Go in, have a seat, have a slice of pizza.  I'll be right back" as Lorelai stepped away she gave Rory a confused look.  

In a way Lorelai thought that maybe Rory was expecting her friend to come over, but she didn't understand the reason why she hadn't said anything.

But when she saw the confused (and surprised) look on her daughter's face, she understood that she hadn't been expecting him either. . . although apparently the surprise had been welcomed.

Lorelai went into the kitchen, taking longer than she should have as she looked for a glass.

~*~

"Sorry for dropping in like this. . . you know, without notice or anything."  He said, as Lorelai stepped out of the room.

"That's ok" Rory said.

"I know that I wasn't expected, so you just say the word and I would understand and leave" he said. . . hoping against hope that she wouldn't say the word.

She smiled.  "I hope you like pizza" she didn't ask, but stated.

"Yeah, I like pizza.  Love it in fact" he answered, and was relieved that in her own way, she had extended an invitation.  Slowly, he let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding in.

He's eyes grew wide when he saw the massive amount of toppings that were on the pizzas, and he turned to her.

She smiled, apologetically.  "We couldn't decide on a topping so we, pretty much, um. . . asked for all of them in different combinations on each half"

"I see"

"Yeah"

"So, um, what are the movie choices for tonight?" he asked.

"Well, we couldn't decide on a theme so we did 'speed picking'. . ." she said.

"Pick whatever, without looking at the descriptions. . . good method" he interrupted.

"My mom thought so too."

"Ok kids.  Here's your glass, Tristan" Lorelai said as she handed him a glass with ice in it "shall we get on with the show."

"We shall" they said in unison.

"Roll it. . ." Lorelai commanded and Rory pushed the play button.  "Hey, I thought we said one of my picks" she said, pointing a finger to her chest, as the movie credits started to appear on the screen.

"Nope, you said.  I just decided otherwise." Rory said, mocking her mother.

"So we are watching Hugh Grant?" Lorelai asked.

"He's just as good a choice as yours are." Rory stated.

"I'm the provider of the house-hold, yet I get no respect."  Lorelai said, directing herself to Tristan.

"You live in a state of anarchy" Tristan answered back.

"It is good to know that this is noticed by outsiders also, so the moment that I have to press charges against this type of behavior I will have a witness." Lorelai said.

And they started watching the movies.  After the Hugh Grant movie Lorelai, backed by Tristan, decided to watch _Bill and Ted.  They all mocked the 'dude' and the 'wow's.  They agreed that such characters had given life to many characters that came after this movie, for example Joey in Blossom and the guys in 'Dude, where's my car?'.  They laughed, ate all of the pizzas, joked, and did impressions.  Both teens were relaxed around each other giving into sporadic banter sessions that where calmed by Lorelai's shushes and hushes._

After watching three out of the four movies (_Seven had been avoided by Rory, so there wouldn't be any Brad and Jen comments) Tristan decided to go._

"Are you sure you have to go?" Lorelai asked "because we could call your parents and tell them that you are going to stay over here."

"It's fine, but thanks anyway" Tristan said.

"It's just that the drive from here to Hartford can be really tiring sometimes, and specially this time a night"

"Don't worry, I'll get there safe and sound" Tristan assured her.

"Would you do me a favor?"

"Sure"

"Call when you get there, please" 

"Will do" Tristan reassured her.  Lorelai hugged him good bye.

"I'll walk you to the door" Rory said as Lorelai went up to her room.

"Thanks" and they started walking towards the door and out to the porch.  "We've been doing this a lot lately" he said.

Rory just gave him a confused look.

At this he started to explain.  "You walking me to the door"

"Oh, well you've been coming over a lot lately, so it is only proper that when you leave. . . I walk you to the door.  Some say is good manners"

"I had fun tonight" he said, with a small smile.

"Yeah, it was fun tonight" Rory affirmed.

"Thanks for not asking me to leave"

"Why would I have done something like that?" she asked confused.

"Because I came over without calling."

"It's ok, I won't tell anyone" she said with in a low, conspiratory voice as she leaned in a little closer to him.  He had to fight the urge to pull her to him and kiss her senseless.  They were making progress and doing that (he was sure) would probably diminish his chances.

"Thank you. . ." he said matching her tone of voice.

"Why did you come over?" Rory asked out of the blue.

He grinned.  "Because I couldn't wait till Monday to see you."  

"Yeah. . . and the other 99% of the reason why you are here is?" she asked.

"I wanted to come to a place where I would have a change of pace.  And I found myself at your house without really knowing why"

"Oh. ."

"But the main reason why I came here was the former. . . the latter is just an excuse" he said as he stepped closer to her.  He took a stray strand of her hair, and placed it behind her ear.

"You're not that good of a liar" she said as she met his gaze.  She felt the way her stomach hit the floor, when he smiled at her.

"Who said I was lying?" he asked as he looked straight into her eyes.

She tried to hold back a hint of a blush that came from his touch.  "Well then, your telling the truth needs work" Rory said trying to keep her emotions in check.

Tristan smiled.  "The doctor said it would happen after so many years of avoiding saying the truth.  It's a medical condition."

"So I should doubt most of the things you say to me then, huh?"

"No."

"No?"

He looked at her straight in the eye, with a serious expression on his face.  "No.  Every time I direct myself to you, regardless of my facial expression, I'm telling you the truth."

Rory had to stare at him for a moment.  Somehow she couldn't believe that at this moment he wasn't being completely honest to her.

She sat down on one of the porch stairs, and he followed her move sitting right next to her.  She hugged her legs and placed her head on her knees so she could look at him.

"So, how come Tristan DuGrey didn't have a date for Saturday night?"

"More important, pressing matters to take care off." He said with a hint of a smile.

"This night might go in to the books as a first." She answered back.

"It seems to be popular belief.  I, for one, have no complaints about it."  He said staring into the sky.

"Do you ever get bored?" She asked out of the blue.

"Of?" He questioned looking at her.

"Of everything that you represent at school?"

"Sometimes.  It's a good thing that I have people that keep me on my toes."

"Such as?"

"You, for example."

"There has to be someone of more. . . um, influence."

"My mom, I guess.  Oh, and of course Will."

"So you get along with your mom?"

"Yeah, I do.   Not as well as you and your mom, but well enough considering Hartford standards."

"Oh, well" she said, smiling "that's saying a lot."

He laughed.  "I know" he said looking at her.  "But how would you. . .?"

"My mom and my Grandma." Rory answered without him finishing the question.

"Oh, right.  Is she the way they make her out to be?" he asked her.  The myth of Emily Gilmore transcended in Hartford Society.

"As I said once, she needs no embellishment.  She lives to the hype that is her name."

"Wow!"

"Yeah. . ." she said, and trailed off a little.  "Who's Will?"

"Oh, Will. . . he's a whole other story. . ." he said, and she with a nod of her head urged him to go on "Well, faith has funny ways of working.  Will's job description is butler, but he is more than that.  He used to work with Paris' grandfather, but when he past away and since my grandfather – who was friend's with Paris' – knew him, he hired him."

"Why didn't Paris' father hire him?" Rory asked.  She thought that would've been the obvious way.

"He didn't like Will.  So my grandfather hired him, but since my grandfather already had a butler he told him if he wanted to go and work with us.  And Will said yes.  And he has been working with us ever since."

"Did he ever marry?"  Rory asked.  It seemed to her that never, nor in real life of movies, do butlers ever married.

"He did.  He married his high-school sweetheart.  But she passed away.  They diagnosed cancer in her on a very late stage and there was nothing they could do.  And when she died, he bowed never to marry again.  He loved her – and still loves her – more that life itself.  A few months later he moved into our house."

"So, he knows you well?" Rory asked.

"If there was anything you wanted to know about me, he's the guy to ask."  He stated.

"The poor man must have some nightmares then."  She quipped.

"And some wet dreams."  He leered.

"He probably didn't know what he was going to go thru when he was hired.  I bet that if he had known that a hormone-driven teenager was going to tell him about all of his conquests. . ."

"He would have accepted less pay for the opportunity of leaving vicariously thru me" he cut her off.

She smiled and he didn't expect that.  But he was starting to figure out that Rory never acted as expected.  Or at least what he was used to expecting.

"You seem fond of him."  She stated.

"How do you figure?" he asked, a little surprised at her perception.

"For you to open up like that to someone else, must mean that you think highly of him."

"He has known me most of my life. . . do you think I would open up to anyone if I didn't trust them enough?" He asked, rhetorically.

"You're opening up to me. . . in a way"

"I trust you enough" he answered.

"You hardly know me" she stated.

"Somehow I think you are trustworthy."

"Thanks" she said, while rolling her eyes.

He smirked.  "Anytime." 

"So what about your friends. . . Do you trust them enough?"

"You said it well once, you don't need friends you need allies."

"But you have friends, you are a statue away from worshipping.  And my sources tell me they are in negotiations for that, even as we speak."

He chuckled.  "That's status.  In my case it was given because of my name. . ." he stated, "among other things" he said with a smirk.

She decided to ignore the last comment.  "You don't seem as happy as I would have pictured you because of that."

"So you have been picturing me, while I'm away" he said, smirking.  She just scoffed.  "Don't get me wrong," he continued "I am.  Really.  It's just that sometimes it's hard to get away from it.  It gets annoying. . . sometimes" he added at the incredulous look in her eyes.

"Your reputation precedes you" she stated, obviously.

"Exactly. . ." he decided to change the line of questioning to something that interested him more "So how 'bout you?"

"What about me?"

"Is there more than Rory Gilmore, than what meets the eye?"

"Nope, what the eye meets is it."  She stated with an uncomfortable smile.

"I doubt that. .  . I bet there is more just waiting to be discovered."  He said looking at the horizon.

"How do you figure?" she repeated the question he had asked earlier.

"No leering of anything intended" he said looking at her in the eye "but I just know that there is more to you than even you would know"

"How would you know that?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

She didn't answer and instead averted her eyes from him.

Inside he smiled.  "You see.  Right there is a whole other part of yourself that hasn't been exposed to the world – or to yourself -, so there is so much more than you would think."

"Thanks for the analysis, doctor" she said sarcastically.

"How come?" he asked her.

"How come, what?" she asked confused, looking back at him.  

"How come you've never been in love?"

"Have you?"

"We are not discussing me." He said simply.

"How evasive of you." She stated.

"Well, you should talk about evasive"

"I don't think anyone has ever considered me that way."

"You would change your mind about that, if you just listened to the conversations that you are main subject in the boys locker room."

She blushed at that statement.

"I think that there have been guys that considered you that way, it's just that you are too oblivious to notice".  And at that moment he considered himself lucky.

There was a small pause.  And Tristan lifted himself from the step and extended a hand to Rory to help her up.  The moment she took his hand a shot of electricity hit them both.  They both let go of each other and smiled.  He extended his hand again for her and the same shot went thru them, except this time Tristan didn't let her take away her hand and held it in his.

When she was finally up, he let go of her.

"So, I'll see you Monday. . . Mary" he said, smirking.

"Monday" she said, and then added "Remember to call when you get home."

"Can't live without listening to my voice, huh Mary?" he said, as he turned half-way to his car.  He walked the rest of the way backwards.

"Oh, I can.  In fact, I would pull a Van Gogh to save myself from listening to it, but my mom will worry if you don't call.  Apparently she is fond of you, although God only knows why." She said shrugging.

"She's the one with the good sense.  I'm hoping that it will hit you soon." He said, she made a face and he smiled "Don't worry I'll call. . . for your mom's sake." He said and got into his car.

He drove away and she couldn't help but smile.

_A civil conversation with Tristan DuGrey, she thought that might never happen.  He was nice, a good conversationalist.  Interesting even.  And she smiled again.  Apparently the good sense was hitting her.  _He would smirk at this_, she thought to herself._

Maybe she wasn't getting an alliance at Chilton, but a friendship.

She went into the house, and went to her room. . . with phone in hand.  She started reading, and 23 minutes later the phone rang.  She let it ring a few times, before she answered.  Lorelai smiled, and picked up the phone and covered the mouth piece.

"Hello?" she said, as if she didn't know who was on the other side of the line.

"I'm home. ." he said.

"I'll alert the media" she said with a small smile.

"I thought that it was for your mom's sake I was calling and there you are answering the phone."

"Maybe she wasn't as worried as she let you think."

"Maybe. . . but you where, apparently, or you wouldn't have answered the phone."

"It's an annoying sound that needed to subside.  It only happens when one answers the phone."

"So you did this for your sanity. . ." he said.

"Exactly. . ." and then she smacked herself mentally; she had walked right into that one.  Lorelai just smiled.

"Good night Mary" he said in a sing-song voice.

"Good night, Bible boy" she answered in the same way, and hung up the phone.

~*~

**Author's Note.  Thanks for all the reviews to everyone.  This is the fifth installment of, what I have just figured, will be a 9-chapter story.  I hope you enjoyed it.  **

A special thanks to: **_Chelle_ thanks for your nice words.  Enjoy. ;o).**


	6. Friendship: Tom

**Disclaimer.**  As thankful as I am of you thinking that I might own the show, the characters, and everything related to Gilmore Girls, I don't. . . thanks for thinking so highly of me, though.

**Minus Dean 6**

Sunday had passed, and it had taken a lot of effort from Tristan not to call or visit Rory.  He figured he was giving in to easily to whomever Rory Gilmore was.  

Then weeks went by and they grew closer (much to his regret) as friends.  Both found they where comfortable around each other, still being themselves.  They would have fun, laugh, study, and envelop different endeavors together.

They had gone thru Rory's first bad grade ever.  She took it pretty bad.  And he lighten up the mood, and promised that he would help her out and comforted her with the fact that she wasn't supposed to know everything, and that she was in school to learn as all of them were.  That it had been just a small slip on her part but that she would recover.  

Paris had not been as easy on her though.

A couple of weeks into their friendship, Rory had gone over to Tristan's house to study.  There she met Will, who she described as 'a saint' since he had to put up with Tristan, and she asked if there was anything being done to promote his sainthood.  Will finally realized what Tristan had been talking about all along, and he knew that he had his work cut out for him if he was, indeed, trying to win Rory over.  After a few minutes of watching them together, he knew that that was the case.

Candace DuGrey met Rory later that same day.  Rory was nervous around her, but was as polite as anyone she had ever met.  She realized earlier than Will had, that this girl was going to give her son a run for his money, but was glad that she had been such an influence for him.  When she heard them banter, she just gave her son a gentle kiss on his forehead, and a light squeeze on his shoulder.  She later told him that she approved.

_A Few  Months Later. . ._

Tristan was coming into Chilton driving his beloved truck again.  As he was going into the parking lot, he saw her coming in thru the main doors.  She was reading yet again.  He smiled.  Rarely did he find her with her nose out a book.  He parked his truck close to the main entrance.  He got his books and descended from his truck.  He locked the doors from the remote, which automatically activated the alarm.  He ran to catch up with her, but he lost her in a sea of blue and gray.

"Hey Tristan" greeted a voice as he was coming in.

He turned around and found Clarisse, getting stuff out of her locker.  "Oh, um, hey Clarisse" he greeted her.

She smiled.  "What have you been up to?" she asked.

"Oh, not much.  You know the usual."  Was his nonchalant answer.

"You've been missing from the scene.  Where have you gone off to?"

"Oh, well here and there. . ." he answered distractedly.

She closed the distance between them.  "There was a time when I was your 'here and there'?" she said looking at him straight in the eye with a wistful look.

"Yeah, well. . ." he started uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, I know Tristan DuGrey has a lot of 'here and there' all over the place," she said placing a hand on his chest "I just hope that when you are done with your list you start over"

"Clarisse you have a boyfriend, don't you?" he asked not wanting to continue in this line of conversation.

"That didn't stop you the first time. . . and the time after that one" she answered "and I didn't complain either time," she added with a wistful tone "and I wouldn't complain now"

Therefore, he turned the patented Tristan charm on, and answered.  "So, how about I give you a call and we can work the details out?"

"You know the number"

"It's burned in my mind," he said running a finger thru the length of her arm.

She smiled.  He smirked and went on his way.  It was so easy to tap into his player side.  However, it was still beyond him, how there could be girls like Clarisse who would risk their steady relationships for a 'roll in the hay' (to put it crudely) with him, and then there where girls like Rory Gilmore that where immune to his charm and good looks.

Everyday he spent with her she amazed him more, to the point that he found himself trying to mold into something she would want.  She was making him change.

After a quick stop by his locker, an exchange of pleasantries with his friends, some other girl and some of his classmates – he went on his way to class. . . and saw her.  She was sitting on one of the steps that led them to the second floor where they had a couple of classes.  She wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings.  He came up the stairs and sat behind her, placing each of his legs on either side of her, supporting his arms on his knees and placing his chin softly on her head.

"If I didn't already know it was you, I would smack you upside the head with this book for your forwardness."

"Then I am glad it's me.  That's one very thick book." He said, smelling her hair and finding a change on her usual scent.  "New shampoo?"

"Yeah. . ." she answered eyes still glued to her book; she was used to him noticing little things like that.

"I like it" he stated simply "So, what are you reading this morning?"

"_The Sound and The Fury"_ she answered.

"She answers as if I should know who the author is" 

"Oh, one day you will know without me telling you" she said.

"But in the mean time. . ."

"William Faulkner"

"There we go. . ."

"So did you finish Hemingway?"

"Yes, I'm done with the Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises and I'm currently reading For Whom the Bells Tolls. . ."

"And how do you like it?" she asked.

"He is not as bad as you make it out to be. . .," he said simply.

She finally did turn to see him.  "Are you being serious?"

"Yeah, I mean. . . I don't have much to compare him to, but I like it.  Find it quite entertaining actually." He said looking at her.

"Oh, God!" She exclaimed, "You are being serious," she said turning around to her previous position.

"Of course I am"

"Well, you are entitled to your opinion" she said turning around again.

"Yes I am. . ."

"To bad it's so uneducated," she stated with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I only have my tutor to blame for that," he stated.

"You should let her go then.  Find someone who fulfills your requirements."

"Oh, she fulfills my requirements"

"Then why is your opinion on Hemingway so high"

"Oh, I never said she fulfilled my tutorial requirements" She nudged him with her elbow on the shin "Ow! What was that for?"

"For your previous comment"

"It was a compliment of sorts, Gilmore"

"It was a leer," she stated.

"That's how I compliment people"

"I wonder how with those kinds of compliments you get as many girls as you do"

"Well they _can _recognize compliments"

"Yeah, as much as they can differentiate right from left" she said, pejoratively.  He chuckled; he was used to that.

"We should go in there," she said after a few seconds of silence, placing her bookmark on the place where she had stopped reading, and got up from the stair she was sitting at.

"We still have ten more minutes," he said as he checked his watch.

"Which brings to mind a question: why are you here so early?"

"I always like coming into school early" he stated, defensively.

"No, you don't" she started "In fact you make it a point to be here just in time for the bell to ring."

"Well, I'm trying to change that"

"And why's that?"

"I don't like doing stuff in a hurry" he said with an eyebrow raised and a smirk.

"Somewhere out there, there will be someone that'll be glad to hear that" she said as she lifted the rest of her books, went up the last few steps and into her classroom.  He followed.

"Wow, Mary! You are getting good at picking up on my subtleties"

"Subtleties?" she asked incredulously "You are as subtle as an elephant can be in an antique store"

"That's quite the comparison," he said as they both sat next to each other in the middle rows of the classroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she saw him sit next to her.

"Sitting" he stated the obvious.

"Yeah, but why?"

"Because we are supposed to sit while in class, since it would be tiring to stand thru the whole period," he said.

"I know that. . . what I'm trying to ask is why are you sitting in this classroom?  We don't have this class together; you have class with Miss Andrews, which is down the hall, right now"

"Oh, right.  It's a good thing I came in early.  See you around."  He said and started to leave, and then came back to where she was sitting, he leaned in, supporting his weight on his hands which he placed on each end of Rory's desk, and whispered in her ear "I enjoy the fact that you know where I am most of the time I'm away from you."  At the closeness, and the surprise of his approach she gave a small shiver.  He smirked, and she knew that without looking at him.

"Go away, Tristan"

"See you later, Mare" he said and left.

~*~

Class finished.  Second, third and fourth period went by.  They only had second period (English) together that morning.  However, they had agreed to meet in between fourth and fifth period.  

As Rory was coming out of fourth period, Tom Harris approached her.

"Hey, Rory" he said as he finally caught up with her.

"Oh. . . Hey Tom" she said and they both stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"That's some major assignment, isn't it?" he said referring to the project they had been assigned in class just a few minutes before the bell rang.

"Yeah, it is. . ." she agreed, "She outdid herself with this one"

"Do you have a partner for it yet?" he asked her, as he placed his free hand inside his pants pocket.

"Um. . . no, I don't since she said that it wasn't necessary to do it in pairs."

"Would you mind if I were to be your partner?" he asked innocently.  "I really need the grade and I can't do it on my own."

"Um. . . no, of course not.  I'll be your partner."  She answered, hesitantly.

"So, when should we start?"

At this moment, Tristan's class was coming out and he had agreed to meet Rory by her locker so they could decide on a study time for today since they had an English test two days later.

As he was rounding the corner to go and meet her, he saw her engaged in conversation with someone.  _Is that Tom Harris? He asked himself, and walked a little faster to where they were standing.  _

"Hey, Ror" he said when he finally approached them.

"Hey Tristan" she said as she turned a little to him.

"Hey DuGrey" Tom said in the nicest way he could muster.

"Harris" Tristan answered back with a small nod.

"So, how about it?" Tom asked Rory again.

"Since we still have a week, would you mind if we got together on Thursday afternoon, after school.  We could meet in the library."

"Why not today?" he asked her.

Tristan just tensed up a little.  He didn't know exactly what they where talking about.

"Oh, I can't today.  I have a major English test on Thursday and Tristan and I are going to study for it."

"Oh. . . well, you see.  I have Track practice on Thursday, how about. . ."

But Rory cut him off "We can get together after your practice"

"Would you wait for me all that time?" 

"I'll be in the library.  I bet I can find something to do in there"

"Like read" he said, smiling at her.  Tristan could have punched him right there.

Rory didn't notice.  "Yeah, like read" she said, smiling back.

"OK, Thursday it is"

"See you then" she said, and he walked away.

"What about Thursday?"

"Oh, um, we are going to work on a project together"

"Oh" he said as they started walking towards her locker.

"You know what I'm in the mood for?" she asked him, and that brought him back in an instant.

"Rory, I never thought I would hear you utter those words to me.  Tell me and I will satisfy it immediately."

Rory made her voice sound deeper "I feel like getting on a Dodge, and go have some steak. . . and beer," she said mockingly.

"What?" he asked confused.

"What's with the testosterone-filled salute?"

"Which one?" he said trying to avoid the obvious.

"Before, with Tom.  What was that all about?"

"Oh, that. . . nothing really, it's just something that goes way back" and as he saw that she was going to ask something else, he added "and I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, okay. . . I can respect that," she said as she turned the combination for her locker.

"You are giving up that easily.  That's a first."

"You forget I can get the other part of the story from him," she said as she signaled with her thumb over her shoulder to no one in particular, but referring to Tom.

"You could do that." Tristan said nonchalantly.  He figured that if he didn't give it that much of an importance she would forget about it.  "So anyway, about this afternoon. . ."

"What about it?" She asked as she got some books out of her locker exchanging them for the ones that she had in her hand.

"Are we still on?"

"Yeah, we are.  What's the plan?"

"The usual.  After school we drive to Stars Hollow, stop at Luke's, and then go over to your house. . . or. . ." he trailed off.

"Ooooor?" she asked, encouraging him to go on.

"We could go over to my house."  He said staring at the top of her head.  She smiled.

"Your house?"

"Yeah. . . Will and my mom have been asking about you and I just want to get them off my back."

"Come on Tristan, spill. . ." she asked suspiciously.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Is there something behind that invitation?"

He leaned in a little closer.  "I plan to persuade you to go into my bedroom and have my way with you." he said, his voice with a huskier tone than usual.

She gave him a scornful look.

"Wow! You could really hurt someone with that look.  Better have it handy when Harris is around." He said, and then added "It's just so we have a change of scenery, I promise to be a perfect gentleman, just like I've been every other time. . . and I promise to give you great coffee; not Luke's coffee but almost as good."

Her look changed.  "You're on. . . just because of the promise of coffee."

"So I could still have my. . ."

"Drop it, Tristan."

"You can't blame a guy for trying."

"We should go to class right now. . . so I'll see you later"

"Later, Mary"

And they walked their own way.  Rory headed for class.  Tristan headed for the locker rooms.  Fencing.

~*~

**Author's Note.  **You might wonder, why there have been so many updates of this story all of a sudden, but there is a logical explanation to all of this: I broke my foot.  In addition, I have to rest for like three weeks, and I still do not have a handle on crutches yet, so this means I have to use my time on something else, and this is what I chose to do.  Therefore, I hope you are enjoying the updates.  Thanks to everyone who reviewed, although I have not been able to read them because I cannot access all of the reviews from the previous chapter, but I still thank those persons that took the time to review it and ask you to please keep doing it… it makes me amazingly happy.

This chapter turned out a little longer than I expected so the story has been extended to 11 chapters instead of the aforementioned nine.  

I would like to add that I really appreciate it when you tell me about any mistakes I made, either grammar or spelling, since my English is not my first language, but please do it politely.  I appreciate the help, but I don't like it when people make some comments that are hurtful at times.  Thanks you for that. 

I hope you enjoyed!!


	7. Friendship: Dance

**Disclaimer.**  As thankful as I am of you thinking that I might own the show, the characters, and everything related to Gilmore Girls, I don't. . . thanks for thinking so highly of me, though.

**Minus Dean 7**

When he arrived at the locker rooms, Harris was talking to his friends.  When he saw that Tristan was coming in, he changed the subject.

"So DuGrey, that Gilmore chick, she's something, isn't she?" Harris said, directing himself to Tristan.  Harris's friend just laughed.

"Stay away from her, Harris" 

"Wow, I've never seen you so defensive about someone, so she _must be something"_

"I am warning you Harris.  You better stay away from Rory if you know what is good for you.  There are some boundaries that are made to be respected."

"Yeah, just how you respected the boundaries surrounding Lauren last summer"

"This is different," Tristan said, "Lauren just had a lapse of good taste, there's no reason to blame her for that"

"I've seen what this girl means to you, and I've made it my mission to make sure that she realizes who you are. . .  and have some fun while I'm at it" he said, smiling, bumping fists with one of his friends.  "I am going to make you pay for what you did to Lauren and me," he said defiantly.

At this moment, Bryce, Josh, Nick, and Alex came to stand behind Tristan, having listened to the exchange between him and Tom.

"What the hell is your problem about that? It's not as if you cared about Lauren.  What is it? The fact that she preferred me over you or that I was just faster to get what you had been working for so long."  Tristan said, defiantly.

"You stupid son of a. . ." he said and lunged over Tristan.  At this moment Tristan just made one swift move to his left, lifted his right knee and Tom banged himself against it, nose first, with a little help of Tristan's hands.  Tristan removed his leg and Tom fell to the floor, his nose bleeding.

Tristan kneeled next to Tom.  "Let that be a warning and the bruise that will show later on a reminder.  Don't mess with me, and _don't mess with Rory.  Remember that" and he got up and walked towards his locker as if nothing had happened._

That was a declaration of war.  A declaration that would be cut short by a girl.

~*~

The school day finished.  Tristan was waiting for Rory by his car, just as they had agreed after lunch.  As Rory was coming out of school, she spotted him and walked towards where he was standing.

"Sorry I'm late.  Had some trouble with my locker, _again_" she said as she finally reached him.

"Don't worry about it.  Did you see that?" he pointed to one of the posters that announced the Winter Formal.

"Yeah" she said as she walked around the truck, next to Tristan who got the door for her, and as she went into the car, Tristan closed the door behind her and proceeded to walk to his side.

"We should go together," he said getting into his car, as if it didn't mean anything for him to go to a dance with Rory.

"Oh, well. . . someone already asked me" she said avoiding his gaze as she put on her safety belt.

He paused in the middle of the same activity.

"Who?" He asked.

"Don't look so surprised, there are people interested in going with me," she stated as if it was the most natural thing for her to accept going out with someone.

"I know, that's why I'm asking you to go with me"

"No, you are suggesting we should go together.  It's not the same thing."

Sometimes she could be so damn clueless.  "Who are you going with?"

"Tom" she answered simply.

"Harris? That jerk?"

"The fact that you don't like him does not immediately mean that I won't either.  I do have my own mind you know, which I can make up on my own"

"Rory, come on.  Be serious.  You cannot possibly consider going to the dance with Harris of all people"

"And why is that, Tristan?"

"He's. . . he's. . ."

"Like I said earlier, you are entitled to your opinion.  However, I have the same entitlement to have my own.  I've made up my mind and I'm going to the dance with Tom, whether you like it or not.  And there's nothing you can say that will make me change my mind.  So let's drop the subject right now and go over to your house and study, OK?"

"Whatever.  Let's go."

They started on their way.  She didn't like the fact that there was tension filling the air, so she tried to lighten up the mood.

"Besides, I am not your responsibility.  You have your own life.  And I should stop depending on your friendship to get me thru Chilton.  Besides, there are probably ten girls waiting for you to ask them to the dance.  It wouldn't be fair of me to deprive them of such displeasure.  Let them find out on their own what an annoying person you truly are." She teased.

"I wanted to go with you," he stated simply.

"But why Tristan? Come on let's face it.  The probability of a girl dumping her date in the middle of the dance is high.  Which will mean that she would need to feel better and being the kind person that you are you would take up the responsibility to calm her down, which will only lead to you making out with her in a dark corner somewhere, and me being left sitting at a table.  So you see I'm doing all this for you."

"Come on, Ror, I'm not joking."

"Neither am I.  Ask some girl, some random girl to the dance who will be more than glad to be your make-out partner for a couple of hours."

"You are definitely going with him then?"

"Yes, I am."

"Promise me you will be careful." He asked of her.

"There was this one time that there was nothing to rent at the video store in Stars-Hollow, but exercise tapes so, my mom and I,  we decided to watch a Tae-Bo exercise video.  I did not practice it, but I did pay close attention to it and I bet I can improvise one of those kicks if he gets out of line.  But I don't think he will."

"A simple 'I promise, Tristan' would have sufficed.  You are always the optimist with people."

"It worked out well for you and I, didn't it?"

"Well I've worked really hard to win your trust, and I still don't think I have it completely." He joked.

"Oh, you don't.  You can be sure of that." She answered back.

"So do you promise?"

"I promise… so who are you planning to take?" she asked as they drove over to Tristan's house.

~*~

Thursday came and both, Tristan and Rory, where glad on the outcome of their English exam.  They studied hard for the last couple of days and were confident that the result would be a positive one.  When the school day was over, he pretended not to remember (and hoped she didn't either) of her work session with Tom.

However, he was mistaken.  She did remember.  And the fact that when they came across Tom during lunch and he confirmed the meeting in the library after practice didn't help either of them forget.  

Rory was deep in concentration reading _Madame Bovary when Tom spotted her and walked to where she was sitting._

"I apologize for being late.  Practice ran. . . well, um, late," Tom said when he finally approached her.

"That would've been a nice verse to that song about ironies," she said looking up from her book.

He smiled.  And so did her.  And he thought how he was going to enjoy making Tristan suffer; and what made him smile even more was that there was no downside to his new 'mission' as he phrased it.  He was going to make Tristan twist and turn while _he_ had a good time with a pretty girl.  Taking revenge on Tristan with Rory Gilmore was going to be fun.

When he didn't say anything and his smile grew wider and wider (and it was starting to freak her out), she decided to bring him back to her part of the world where there were projects to be made with deadlines to be met.  "Tom?" and when he snapped back to reality, she continued, "Shall we start?"

"Yeah, we should."  He said, with a glint in his eyes that she couldn't place.  She didn't catch the double meaning in his answer, either.

They started walking around the Chilton Library, getting books and searching the Net for some more actualized facts and recent developments.  Chemistry was a science that, with a small alteration you could get amazing new results.  They just needed to find a way that would work to their advantage accommodating both time and facilities, and that would allow a faster flow of the activities.

Tom was trying to be flirty and nice, and he put his best face forward for Rory.  Nevertheless, Rory didn't need a partner to flirt with, but to work with.  So when she told him (in the nicest way possible) how they really needed to get that done and that there would be time for "other" things after the project was due, it came as a surprise.  In addition, he heard a stifled laugh from behind that came from Alex, Tristan's friend who was sitting behind them, Tom decided that if he made Rory look bad while getting back at Tristan, the better.

Rory, on the other hand, started to see what Tristan meant when he said that Tom Harris was a jerk.  He was starting to get on her nerves.  He was a touchy-feely person, cockier than Tristan (if possible) but without a reason to be cocky about...  and then he made one big mistake, that finally confirmed Tristan's opinion about him.

"Does Tristan ever get on your nerves?" he asked as he dropped his pen over his pad considering that it was time for a break, _again._

"We don't have time for anymore breaks, Tom" she said without looking up and then added, "And no, he doesn't." she half-lied. . . but he didn't need to know that.

"Really?" he questioned.

"Really" she deadpanned finally looking up from the book and the notes she was writing.

"Because I've seen you banter. . ."

"That's how we get along.  It's that interaction that makes our friendship unique."

"Is it tiring?"

"No, it isn't."

"Rory you're a smart girl" he started, and she knew that she wasn't going to like that, because she never liked statements that started that way "I would have thought that you would have a better screening process for your friends."

"I don't ask for resumes to decide whether I would consider having you as a friend or not." She answered defensively.

"Yeah. . . but DuGrey?" he asked, incredulously.

"What about him?" she was now really getting annoyed at him.

"He's not the best guy to have as a friend.  He wouldn't think twice before turning against you."

 "And who do you think is better suited to be my friend?" she asked, but she knew what the answer was going to be.

"Me, for starters."

"At the moment, I highly doubt that." 

"Listen Rory. . ."

But she interrupted him, "No.  You listen Tom.  I don't let anyone speak ill of my friends.  I defended you from Tristan, but now I see that he was right.  Yet I gave you a chance to prove him wrong; _you just proved him right.  He is my friend, and no one has the right to decide whom I should or shouldn't hang out with, but me.  As for our date for the dance, it's off.  I'm giving you enough notice for you to find some other date, although my sympathies go out to her.  Now if you'll excuse me I have to go" She said as she gathered her stuff and placed it inside of her backpack "You need the grade so you can keep what we did, and I'll do something else.  Bye Tom." And with this, she walked out of the library._

Tom was left fuming in the library.  So much for best laid plans.

"Good Bye, Tom.  Too bad about your date with Rory."  Alex said, his tone sarcastic, and left the library.

~*~

As soon as Alex left the library, he made _the call.  It was his duty as a friend, and he needed to fulfill it.  It rang four times before he answered the phone._

"Hello," Tristan said as he answered his cell.

"Hey, DuGrey," Alex answered back.

"Hey, Alex. . ." Tristan said surprised, Alex wasn't that much of a phone person.

"She dumped him," he said not giving Tristan anything else but that.

"Come again," 

"_She_ dumped _him"_

"Who is _she_? And, whom did _she _dump? I really need so much more than that if you want me to follow your story, man"

"I was in the library," Alex started.

"Well you are quite the studious fellow, so that is not enough" but then realization hit him "go on. . . you've got my attention."

"Well Rory was there. . ."

"Yeah, I know with that Harris jerk. . ."

"Exactly.  Well, they were working on the chemistry project and you would think that Rory, being Tom's date for the Winter Formal, was going to be a little more open to his flirting, right?"

Tristan grinned.  

"But she wasn't, in fact she was as unreceptive to his flirting as she is to yours. . ."  
  


"She is one very fair person. . ."  Tristan said smiling, "I resent that by the way. . ."

"Anyway.  Here they are, working on the project, and you can see her growing exasperated with the guy, so then all of a sudden I don't know what it is that he asks her…"

"What kind of a reporter are you if you can only get half of the story. . ." Tristan joked.

Alex ignored him.  "And that was the end of him.  I just see her say something to him and then she starts to get up and gather her stuff and dumps him, right there."

"That's my girl!"

"She would've made you proud, actually."

"Did they mention me?"

Alex knew better than to feed his friends huge ego.  "Not that I heard."  And he knew that Rory wouldn't be able to live that thru.

"I'm a little disappointed that I didn't have anything to do with that fall out, but I'm as glad as if I had been."

"Anyway, I gotta go.  I'm meeting Dana; we are going to go over some of the details for the dance."

"You're a good man, Alex.  Too bad that you've got to go thru that."

"When the girl is worth it. . . see you around DuGrey, and don't mess it up."

"Thanks man, really."  He added, just before he hung up.

~*~

**Author's Note.  First of all, thank you so much for your 'get well' wishes, although I found it really funny that many people said 'I'm sorry, but I'm glad it happened' I just couldn't stop laughing about that.  I'm glad that the fact that I am hurt is making me write more, and that that makes you guys happy, that's why people say that 'nothing happens without a reason'.  Secondly, I would like to thank you for the reviews, like I've said before, they mean so much to me, so if you can continue doing it then it would make me even more happy.  I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and wait for what is coming along.  **

Mary


	8. Friendship: Tristan

**Disclaimer.**  As thankful as I am of you thinking that I might own the show, the characters, and everything related to Gilmore Girls, I don't. . . thanks for thinking so highly of me, though.

**Minus Dean 8**

"I no longer have a date for the Winter Formal," Rory told her mom over the phone while she was waiting for her bus to arrive the day when she dumped Tom.

"J-Lo you should worry if you don't have a fiancé, not a date for a Winter Formal.  That's how Liz got started, you know."

"Mom, it's me. . ."

"I know honey. . . caller ID, remember"

"So, I no longer have a date for the Winter Formal" Rory repeated herself.

"What happened?" 

"Well, you see. . . Tom was being something of a jerk. . ."

Lorelai interrupted her, "Just as Tristan said he was"

"Yeah, so… there we were, and then all of a sudden, he starts getting on my nerves and then I dumped him."

"Talk about cliff-notes version."

"What?"

"That I will need something more than what you just gave me, for me to be able to hate him with you.  Breathe honey; breathe.  What happened with Tom?"

"Well, he started getting on my nerves. . ."

"Uh huh, we've been thru that. . ."

"And then I dumped him."

"Wow! For a future reporter you've really suck at news coverage… and you were there!"

"Mom…" Rory said. 

"Here honey, let me get you thru it… take notes so next time something happens you have better idea of how you are going to tell mommy.  What did he do to get on your nerves?"

"He was being Tom"

"But I don't know Tom, so that doesn't give me much.  Elaborate."

"We were in the library working in our project and he started to get all touchy and feely and flirty.  We were working, for God's sake! But anyway, there we were, I was trying to work and he wanted to have breaks. . ."

"Now we are getting somewhere, go on."

"And then he started asking me stuff. . ."

"About yourself?"

"No"

"About your likes and dislikes?"

"No"

"We were doing so well a few minutes ago Rory, go back to that place, back."

"He kept asking me about my friends and. . ."

"You mean, Tristan."

"Well, yeah, he is one of my friends.  And he kept telling me that I needed a better 'screening' process for my friends."

"What are you? Human Resources?"

"Exactly.  So then I got mad."

"Why did you get mad?"

"He asked me something. . ."

"About Tristan?"

"Yeah," she accepted finally, and Lorelai smiled "and how could I be friends with him and how Tristan wasn't the best guy to have around."

"He is when we need to change the water bottle.  Luke is just not being as effective as he used to."

"Yeah, but I couldn't tell him that.  Rumors would be all over school by early tomorrow morning."

"So that's when you. . ."

"That's when I snapped at him.  I told him that I didn't like anyone speaking bad about my friends and then told him that I wouldn't go to the dance with him and then I left him there."

"Wow! Rory Gilmore, I never thought you had it in you."

"I'm a little ashamed about it."

"Ashamed? Are you crazy? I am so proud of you.  I just didn't know from where you get that easy-temperament, because neither your father nor I have it.  You have made me proud to be your mom.  Many songs come to mind at the moment for me to sing to you. . ."

"But since you are such a great mom you are not going to put me through that, right?"

"Right.  So what are you going to do?"

"Well nothing.  Not going to a dance is not really a life-altering event in one's life.  In fact, this won't be the first one I've missed.  I've missed several while attending Stars Hollow High."

"My daughter, the wallflower."

"And proud of it."

"That's the spirit."

"Well I'm waiting for the bus to head to Stars Hollow, so I'll see you at home OK?"

"See ya at home, angel"

 ~*~

"Why don't you go with Tristan?" Lorelai asked Rory as they were having a cup of coffee at Luke's, later that same day.

"No"

"That's why I asked 'why'."

"I made a point about going with Tom.  Going with Tristan is just giving him reason to be cockier because of the fact that he was right."

"So, accept that he was right and move on.  Go with him."

"Accepting that he was right? No, that won't happen."

"The minute he finds out that you are not going to the dance with Tom, he'll know that he was right.  But here is the thing.  If you don't tell Tristan, he is going to jump to assumptions that will be wrong.   And that boy would rip Tom's head off, because he is going to think that the reason he's not going to the dance with you is that he did something to you and not that you dumped him.  Therefore, you should go with him, as damage control.  For your fellow man well-being."

"No, I am not going with Tristan."

"But why? What about everything I just said."

"We can prevent all that with me just telling him that I dumped Tom.  This will be punishment enough.  I don't need to go with Tristan to add to that punishment."

"So you think of going out with Tristan as a way of punishment?"

"In this case, yes."

"I beg to differ."

"You always do.  That's why you're you."

Then Rory added as an afterthought.  "And he already asked someone else."

"And that was all your doing."  Lorelai stated.

"Yes, it was."

"Well, he would go with you if you asked him."

"And have to endure the mocking comments, the teasing, the leering, that will come as a result of me asking him.  No, thank you."

"You already live with that,."

"Times ten."

"Oh, now you're just exaggerating."

"No, I'm not." 

"Have you told him yet about what happened?" Lorelai asked.

"Nope, but I think he probably already knows."

"Why do you figure?"

"Alex was there."

"And Alex is. . .?"

"Tristan's friend."

"He already knows."  Lorelai said as she drank the last remains of her coffee.

Rory nodded, doing the same thing.

That night, Rory called Tristan and told him what had happened with Tom.

~*~

The day of the dance came.  The infamous Winter Formal finally arrived.  Rory hadn't been able to live thru what had happened with Tom.  As predicted, Tristan mocked, joked, teased. . . and then he tried to persuade Rory to go with him to the dance.

"The dance is today," Rory said, as they where sitting having a cup of coffee at some place in Hartford.

"So. . ."

"And you already have a date for it," she said, rolling her eyes. 

"So I'll break that date and we can go together,"

"We've been thru this," Rory stated.

"Your point being?" he asked her, as if he didn't get where she was going with that.

"You can't do that to Tracey, she probably just decided which color her dress would be so she wouldn't clash with the decorations or her friends' dresses."

"You know Mary, when you talk that way you sound a little jealous," he said with a smirk.

"You wish"

"Every night to the first star I see."

"Be serious, Tristan."

"I am being serious; the fact that you don't take it seriously that's another story, that I have nothing to do with." He said leaning in.

"Really now, you can't do that to her."

"I would do it, if you ask me to."

"I won't ask you to do such a thing.  You'll have fun with Tracey," she said, trying to convince him.

"But I would have more fun with you.  We could start the evening by pinpointing which couples will split by the end of the night, even put a wager on it if you like.  Then we would make fun of everyone else, mocking them even more after someone has the smart idea of spiking the punch.  We could laugh at anyone who fights with his or her dates.  You see its fun."

"You would be Lorelai's perfect date." She said with a small smile.

"Yet I want to be _your _perfect date."

"Listen, go to the dance with Tracey, and pay attention.  And tomorrow you can tell me all about it when you come over, and we can do everything you've just described." She finished.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, finally.

She hesitated.  "Yeah."

"Then I should leave, I have to go and get ready."

"You do that." She said with an apologetic smile.

"Will you get to Stars Hollow alright?"

"I'll be fine." She assured him, as he got up.  "Oh, and Tristan. . ." she called him when he was at the door, and he turned to see her "I want thorough notes on the dance, think Hemingway." She smiled.  He didn't, and went on his way.

~*~

Rory had yet another movie night with Lorelai.  But, she didn't free herself of Lorelai's comments, (whether they were to the point or alluded to something).  But she hardly paid any attention to the movies, and even to what Lorelai had to say about, well, anything.  Zoning out Lorelai wasn't something that was easily done, but Rory had mastered it.  She didn't want to be distracted from her own thoughts, which she found led her to the dance and of course to Tristan, and what kind of time was he having himself.

She kept trying to get away from those thoughts also.  She tried as hard as she could to avoid anything that would make her regret her decision of going to the dance with Tristan.

There was a moment during the night that she considered going by herself, but she decided otherwise.  She wasn't the kind of girl that would do something as rash and spontaneous, and. . . . she didn't have anything to wear to the dance.  But that wasn't the point; she just wouldn't do that to a person.

When they were through half of the second movie (or what Swatch would signal as 9:40pm), she decided that she was tired and that she needed to go to bed.  Lorelai didn't try to stop her.

Lorelai had been worried about her.  Rory had seemed distracted all through the night and the fact that they had rented, what could have been called a "School Dance Theme" (picked beforehand by Lorelai), including that movie where Britney Spears sang the main song for the movie, wasn't helping matters much.  She knew that they were _not the perfect picks, but she figured that maybe seeing the main characters hook up at the end of the dance would make Rory act against what her common sense dictated.  She knew it was as good as a shot in the dark, but it was worth a try._

She had seen how her daughter had beaten herself up about accepting that date with Tom, and how relieved she had been when she broke it off.  Of course, Lorelai couldn't tell Rory that, because she would deny it completely calling her delusional or something like that.

It was something that she had to wait for Rory to figure out.  She could tell where Tristan stood in all of this; she knew he liked her daughter.  But since Rory was the one that was going to do the figuring out, and it was going to take a while (being Rory and all), she would have to sit and wait for it to happen.  This was going to take some time.

~*~

There hadn't been a most boring dance than the Winter Formal.  A good thing was that Tracey decided that Tristan wasn't being the best of dates and she had left with Tom Harris, of all people.

Tom had planned a better revenge than this one, but since the whole thing with Rory had flopped, and this was apparently as good as it was going to get he seized the opportunity and left with Tristan's date.  Tristan just chuckled.  Harris didn't actually stand out for being smart.

Most of the night his thoughts traveled to a small-town girl that had stayed at her house because she was too nice of a person to ruin someone else's good time.  

He left the dance and drove back home.

On his way home, he kept thinking about how he knew that Rory was going to laugh when he told her how his date for the dance had ended.  At the thought of her laughing, he smiled.  He could hear her laughing with him at everything he had witnessed at the dance.  How Paris had attended the dance with a cousin that ended up hitting on Madeline, who already had a date but then left with Louise's and vice versa. How Alex had gotten trashed because he drank to much punch, and how Bryce ended up crying about something or other because of the same punch consumption.  How everyone had met Josh's girlfriend (who attended another school).  It had been an eventful dance after all.  To bad, she had missed it.

That's when the realization hit him.  How he had missed her, and how much he had wanted to go to the dance with her and not anyone else.  It wasn't because of his initial capricious reaction to date her, because she was 'new'.  Now it was more than that.  It was because he wanted to enjoy 'the pleasure of her company' as Heath Ledger had accurately put it in _10 Things…  It was because he wanted to go thru the whole dance experience with her.  He wanted to go thru the details of getting to the dance, just as Alex had gone thru them with Dana a few days before, with her.  He wanted to dance with her.  He wanted to hold her in his arms so close that he would've been able to listen to her think. _

This was beyond liking.  This was… Tristan DuGrey was falling in love… with Rory Gilmore.

And as a montage, just like the ones people say that they have just before they go through a near-death experience, the last few months spent with Rory came to his mind.  He realized that they had spent almost everyday of those last few months together.  He saw how, with time, she seemed more at ease around him (and that made him happy).  He also noticed the way he had changed, because of being around her so much.  He remembered how he won over her trust (and Lorelai's).  How everyone who was part of her life had taken him in, or better yet he saw how she had let him into her life allowing him a freedom that he never thought he would be able to have around a girl.

_WOW, was all that he could think off._

~*~

At three in the morning, Rory heard a knock on the door.  It was insistent.  She hoped Lorelai would wake up and answer it.  But she figured that she had a better chance of lighting striking twice on the same place, before Lorelai got up and answered the door at this time a night.

And then she did a double take when she saw that it was three in the morning, and she got worried.  She grabbed her robe from the chair, slipped on her slippers, and went to get the door.

She kept mumbling to herself, _that person better have a good reason for coming here at this hour, _repeatedly.

When she opened the door, she was surprised.  Or something beyond surprise if that was possible.  A tear-stained Tristan stood there still wearing the suit he had worn to the dance.

"Tristan? What's wrong?" she asked alarmed.

"My grandfather Rory…" he started trying to hold his tears, or keep them to a minimum "My grandfather died tonight" and he threw himself in her arms and cried, as he hadn't in years.

She just hugged him tight and didn't let go.  And then, she started to let her tears roll down her face. 

~*~

**Author's Note.  Please don't hate me just yet.  I know what everyone wanted, but there is a reason why I did this and you will understand shortly.  Thanks to everyone who reviewed and please continue doing so.**

Mary


	9. Janlan

**Disclaimer.**  Don't own them, and wouldn't dream a claiming that I did.

**Minus Dean 9**

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Lorelai came down the stairs, half asleep wearing men's pajama pants and a t-shirt that said 'I don't do mornings'.  It would have been funny if it hadn't been for the circumstances that they were in now.

"Rory what's wrong?" she said from inside the house, as she was coming down the stairs.

Then when she finally came closer to the door, she saw them, with their arms around each other, neither of them saying anything.  All she could hear was something that sounded like... sobbing?  She walked to the door.  And she saw Tristan crying as if he had been six, about something that he couldn't understand.

Instead, a sixteen-year-old boy had her daughter embraced in a tight hug, crying about something that _he_ didn't understand.  She finally decided to approach them.

"Tristan? Honey? What's wrong kiddo?" she said as she placed a hand on his back rubbing it in the manner mother's do to give comfort.

When she saw him lift his face and the expression of pain he had on it, she felt a tight knot form in her throat that didn't let her swallow.  Rory still kept an arm around his waist, and he kept her as close as possible with his two arms wrapped around the small of her back.  

"Lorelai, my grandfather passed away a couple of hours ago. . ." he said with as much effort as he could muster.   

"Oh, sweetie, I am so incredibly sorry" Lorelai said as she placed her hand on his arm.  There wasn't anything else she could do, because he had a hold on Rory that he didn't want to break.  Rory placed her head on his chest and placed her other arm around his waist, and he just squeezed her a little more, and brought her closer if possible.

"Do you want to come in?" Rory asked him.

"I didn't know where to go, and I just drove here… I'm sorry; I know it's late… I didn't know what to do…" he said confused.

"Honey, it's okay.  Really, we're glad that you're here.  Come in, because it's really cold out here.  Come on, I'll make coffee."

And they started to walk into the house.  When Rory tried to let go of him, he just held her tighter.  "I need you." He told her.

"I'm here" she said as she touched his face, and he closed his eyes to feel her touch even more, "and I'm not going anywhere," and they walked into the house still holding each other.

A few minutes later, Lorelai came into the living room, where Rory and Tristan sat on the couch.  Well, Rory sat and Tristan outstretched his body across the sofa, resting his head on her lap.  Rory was running her hand thru his hair, and his left hand was on Rory's knee, doing small circles with his thumb.

"Here's your coffee," she said as she placed the mug on the coffee table.  When she bent down to place it, she saw the tears coming out of his eyes and rolling over his nose.  He wasn't even trying to wipe them off.  "Do you think I could get your mom's cell-phone number so I can call her and tell her you're here?"

"It's on my cell-phone's directory… I left it by… I don't know where I left it."

"It's okay, hon…"

"It's over the table by the entrance, along with his keys" Rory said looking up at her mother.

"I'll go get it" and with that Lorelai walked away.

*

"Rory?" came the voice of Candace DuGrey on the other side of the line.

"No Mrs. DuGrey this is Lorelai Gilmore, Rory's mother.  I was just calling to tell you that Tristan is at our house; he came in a few minutes ago."

"Oh, thank God! He took this pretty bad, as we all did.  But mostly him, since he was so close to his grandfather."

"I am really sorry for your loss."

"We all are, dear… thanks for calling.  Please don't let him come back to Hartford, because we have to take care of all the paper work and I do not want to put him thru this too.  Would you mind if he…?"

"He is more than welcome to stay here, Mrs. DuGrey."

"Thanks Lorelai.  Please call me Candace.  You are just as he pictured you.  I'm glad that he is there with you.  Thank you."

"It's our pleasure."

"Good bye, Lorelai."

"Bye."

*

They laid there in silence just as Lorelai had left them before she went to call Tristan's mom.  They didn't need to say anything to each other.  Tristan was grieving and Rory was there to support him.  But then he broke the silence.

"What am I going to do without him, Ror?" He asked her, "He's always been there for me when I needed it, and now he's gone and I don't know how am I going to deal with that… How does one deal with such a loss?"

"I don't know Tristan… I wish I could tell you a recipe for that, but there is no way I can tell you how you will be able to deal with that.  I guess that you just take it one day at a time, and learn that way.  I think that's the best I can do." She answered, wiping a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

"He was such a great man, Ror.  He would have loved you.  And he would have smacked me upside the head for not being smart enough to keep you with me." He smiled, and so did she.  He continued.  "He would have told me: _Tristan, you disappoint me son.  Such a pretty girl and all you can manage is a friendship._  And I would have told him that I was working pretty hard at moving things forward, and he would have answered _well apparently not hard enough.  And he would have smiled, and told you that you were a smart girl for just giving me your friendship."_

"Wise man, your grandfather." She joked.  He gave a small smile that Rory saw appear on his face.

"He is… was.  Oh God!" and he sniffled, "how am I going to be able to get used to talking about him in the past tense."

"Little by little.  You cannot expect to get used to it in a few hours."

"He loved to read… did you know that your grandfather and mine used to exchange books and sometimes they would get together at the Golf Club, but they didn't have time to play because they were discussing the latest book they were reading, and it would take them hours.  Once," he remembered "my grandpa told me that they spent two hours on the same hole, not because they couldn't' get the ball but because they were discussing some article.  The manager came up to them and told them if there had been a problem because they had been standing there for hours, so they decided to forget about the game and went to have something to eat."

"That sounds like something grandpa would do."

"He used to encourage my friendship with Paris, you know? He said that she was a girl that could use my help."

"Paris doesn't need anyone's help" she answered.  And he chuckled.

"That's what I used to tell him.  And once…" and Tristan reminiscences continued until he was too tired of crying and talking, that he fell asleep.

When he fell asleep, Rory lifted his head, placed a cushion under his head, removed his shoes, placed a blanket over him…, and then placed a small kiss on his cheek.  And she walked to her room to get some rest.

*

When Lorelai finished her conversation with Tristan's mom, she saw that Rory and Tristan were talking about his grandfather, and decided not to interrupt them and went upstairs to her room.

*

Later that morning, Rory awoke and made a phone call.  She asked Will if they could bring Tristan's suit and toiletries so he could get ready at her house, and one hour later the driver came over with a black suit in a garment bag and a bag that contained all the essentials for him to get ready.  And a small note in, what she thought was, Will handwriting that said "Thank you."

Both Lorelai and Rory started getting ready for that day before they would wake Tristan for him to get ready.

Rory wore a black dress that went down to her knees, and a black button-up sweater.  Her hair down and some mascara on her lashes as make-up.

Lorelai wore black pants and shirt.

After they were ready, Rory decided to wake Tristan up.  So she walked up to the sofa, and kneeled in front of his sleeping figure.  She placed her hand on his hair, and did some small caresses with her fingers.

"Tristan," she said in a low voice "Tristan… wake up." 

But nothing happened, except him stirring a bit.

So she tried again.  "Tristan…" and he stirred a little more.  So she caressed his head again and said, in a higher tone of voice, "Tristan…" and he finally opened his eyes lazily.

"I thought that it might've been a bad dream… but it's not, isn't it?" he asked her.

"I'm sorry, but it's not."

"I have to go back to Hartford and…" he started as he lifted himself into a sitting position.

"I called Will and asked him to send everything here, so you could get ready.  Everything is set up in my room and there is a towel in the bathroom.  I hope you don't mind?" she asked him.

"No… thank you, Rory." He said and he took her hand in his.  "Thanks for being here for me." He said and placed a kiss on the palm of her hand.

"That's what I'm here for…" she said smiling.  "Go, get ready." She said and stood up from her kneeling position.  He also got up from the couch and went into the bathroom to get ready.

While he was taking a bath, Rory could hear him crying, thru the door.  It made her heart break.

*

While Tristan was in the bathroom, his cell phone rang.  She hesitated, but the ringing was insistent.  So she finally decided to answer it.  And she saw who the caller was, on the caller ID.  _Paris_.  She took a deep breath and answered.

"Hello?"

"Who is this?" Paris asked.

"Paris, its Rory…"

"What are you doing with Tristan's cell?"

"He's getting ready and…"

"Wow! Years of friendship, but he rather go to you than to me…"

"Paris, as much as I would enjoy this verbal sparring with you, this is not the moment for it.  He can't put up with us right now."

"So it's true." 

"If you are talking about… his loss.  Yes, it's true.  He passed away at around one or two in the morning.  He really needs his friends."

"But apparently he needs you more than anyone" Paris said with a defeated tone.

"That's irrelevant at the moment.  He needs all of his friends.  Emphasis in _all_.  So if you want to do him a favor, we can make a truce between you and me, and call everyone that would care about him.  He needs the support."

"I'll call everyone, don't worry.  Good-bye Rory."

"Bye, Paris" and they hung up.

*

He came out of her room wearing everything that had been sent to him.  She walked to where he was.  When she reached him, they hugged.

Lorelai was in the kitchen, and called from there.  "Do you guys want some coffee?  Or something to eat?  I went to Luke's and got us some donuts and danishes and pancakes."

"I'm not hungry." Tristan answered, still hugging Rory.

"You need to eat something.  Come on.  Have at least a pancake." She said, and ran her hands the length of his arm and took his hands in hers.  "Come on" she said and walked him into the kitchen.

He sat at the kitchen table and she placed a plate with one pancake and some syrup.  She then placed a mug of coffee in front of him, and she placed the same thing in her place on the table, next to him.  She sat next to him and they both started to eat.  He took her hand, which was over the table, and they both finished eating holding hands.

"Paris called." Rory said.

"Did you tell her?" he asked her.

"She already knew.  She was just calling for confirmation I guess.  She is going to call everyone."

"I want you to be with me." 

"I will be."

"No, I want you to be with me all the time.  I can't get thru this alone."

"I will.  And you won't have too.  Everyone is going to be there, and I won't leave your side, unless you ask me too."  She finished.  And he took a deep breath.

"Not to make you eat in a hurry, but we need to get on the road to Hartford in a few minutes.  Mass is at 11."  Lorelai said, and Rory gave Tristan's hand a little squeeze.  He took a deep breath.

They finished breakfast, and started to get everything ready to leave.

"Lorelai, would you mind if Rory drives to Hartford with me?"

"No, it's OK.  I have to stop at my parents first, so I'll meet you guys at church."

"Would you like me to drive?" Rory asked Tristan.

"No, that's OK.  I can drive." And they all went out the door.  Lorelai locked behind her and they walked to their cars.

*

They all met at church.  It was a beautiful service and then they drove to the cemetery, where he was to be buried.  Rory had been by Tristan's side thru mass.  And then at the cemetery, where they were supposed to be family upfront, she stood by him.  They had been holding hands since they had left Stars Hollow.  There were moments that Tristan would let go of her hand, just to look for it again a couple of minutes later.

When they went back to Tristan's house, everyone from school that really cared about Tristan, were there: Paris, Madeline, Louise, Josh, Bryce, Alex, Nick, a bunch of girls (that left early), many of the jocks… all trying to show Tristan their support.  But he always had Rory by his side.  She never left his side, just as she had said.

That day Rory had been introduced to Rory's father, who was the only DuGrey that did not know her.  

"Father, this is Rory Gilmore." Tristan said when he introduced her at church.

"Gilmore? Any relation to Richard Gilmore?" he asked her.

"Yes, sir.  He is my grandfather." Rory answered.

"Nice man your grandfather.  You must be Lorelai's daughter, Lorelai."

"Yes, I am" she answered nervously.

"It's nice meeting you Lorelai, sad because of the circumstances, but nice nonetheless." He said extending his hand.

"Yeah, I wish it could have been at some other moment." She said as she shook his hand.

"Tristan, there are some people that want to give you their condolences.  Go son."

"Yes, father." Tristan answered and walked around the room sustaining small conversations with people, and introducing Rory to all of them as _'my friend Rory Gilmore' while still holding her hand.  He got many confused looks from people._

Many of the girls left because of the same reason.  Tristan never let Rory go, not once all day, which disappointed them greatly.  That day it had been obvious that he was in love with her… and that, she was getting there, if she wasn't already.  And everyone noticed.  There were moments thru out that day, when all he did was stand somewhere away from the crowd, with her, and hugged her… and let his feelings show for a few moments before he had to compose himself again.  And she would hold him, and look at him as the most fragile thing.  Many found that they shared the same look while looking at each other.  Some were glad, and some weren't.

Paris had noticed it too.  She had seen how his face would change whenever Rory went to the bathroom and left him for a few minutes.  And how he composed himself again when he had her by his side.  She knew that she would never be able to give Tristan what Rory gave him, without even trying.  And she thought that it was time to move on.

Richard Gilmore had taken things pretty bad.  Janlan DuGrey was probably his best friend, and he would miss him immensely.  He would try to keep his feelings to himself, but there were moments were he faltered.  Tristan and Rory came to where Lorelai, Emily, and Richard were standing. 

"How are you holding up, Tristan?" Lorelai asked Tristan as they approached.

He gave her a look and a small smile and she understood.

"We are sorry for your loss, Tristan." Emily told him.

"Thanks Mrs. Gilmore.  And thanks for being here with us today.  It means a lot to my family." Tristan answered politely.

"I am going to miss him." Richard said placing his hand on Tristan's shoulder."

"We all are, Mr. Gilmore," he answered.

"Dad, he doesn't need to hear that right now." Lorelai said to Richard.  She then turned to Rory "Rory, we have to go soon honey." She told her.

"Oh…um" Rory started, but Tristan interrupted her.  "If you don't mind Lorelai, I want Rory to stay here with me.  I will drive her back to Stars Hollow later tonight… that is if you don't mind?" he asked Rory.

"No, I don't mind." Rory answered him.

"Okay… see you at home then.  Bye Tristan." Lorelai said.

"Yes, good-bye Tristan.  Please feel free to come over if you need anything." Emily told him and extended her hand to him.

"Thanks, Mrs. Gilmore.  I will keep that in mind." Tristan answered as he took Emily's hand lightly.

"And we are sorry, again, for your loss young man."  Richard said.

"Thanks, Mr. Gilmore"

And they walked away from them.

Tristan turned to Rory, "Thanks for staying." He told her.  She just gave him a smile and she ran her hand thru the side of his face, as she had done earlier that day, and as he had done, he closed his eyes again.

*

The crowd started to thin out.  Everyone said their condolences to the family and started to walk out of the house.  It had been a long day.

Tristan asked Rory if she wanted to get a cup of coffee in the kitchen, where Will had been hiding out.  He wasn't part of the elite and he couldn't hide his feelings as well as they could.  They came into the kitchen and started having coffee, but Tristan's father came in and asked him to come out with him and that it was important and he told Rory to wait for him there.  Therefore, she did.

*

Rory was in the kitchen having a cup of coffee with Will.  She was bending slightly over the counter.  They had been discussing the life of Mr. DuGrey Senior and many of the things that he had done… including hiring him.  She had her back to the door, so she didn't see him coming into the kitchen.  He placed an arm on each side of Rory, trapping her in between the counter and his body.

"Do you want to go?" he asked her, in a low voice, in her ear.  He proceeded to place his forehead on her shoulder.

She rested her back on his body.  "Um… only if you want to, because I can stay longer." She said, close to his ear.

"I could leave… I really could" he said, with the same intimate tone in her ear.

"Then say no more…" she drank the last of her coffee in one large drink, making a Gulp! Sound when she swallowed.  A small smile came to his lips.  "I am ready to go."

"OK, let's go…" he said and grabbed her by the hand as he had done many times during that day.  Then walked with her towards the back door, before she pulled her hand away from him.

She walked to where Will was still standing.  "Thanks for everything Will" she said and gave the butler a small hug.  He reciprocated.

"Thank you for being with us, Rory" Will said as they separated from their hug.

"Let me go and say my good-bye's to your parents and everyone else…" she said as she walked out of the kitchen.  He followed her back into the living-area where everything was held that day.

She went and said her good-byes to Mr. and Mrs. DuGrey, first.  Tristan's mother engulfed her in an emotion-filled hug.

"Thank you for being here for my son, Rory.  It means the world to him and to us, and specially me.  Thank you dear."

"Don't worry, Mrs. DuGrey.  I'm sorry for what happened."

"Me too, dear.  But thanks for being here."

"It was the least I could do for all of you, specially Tristan, and you." She said.  Tristan was standing right behind her at the moment she said that.

"Good bye Mr. DuGrey."

"Good bye, Lorelai.  Thanks for being with my family in a time like this."  He refused to call her Rory.  His tone, even after what he had been thru that day, was as composed as if nothing had happened.  _You will never understand the rich, Lorelai used to say, and she was right.  She gave him a small smile._

She said good-bye to everyone else that she knew and those that she did not know.  She proceeded to walk where Tristan was watching her every move, and extended her hand so she could let him take it in his just as he had been doing.  He intertwined his fingers with hers and left thru the back door in the kitchen.

When they were inside Tristan's car, she placed her hand on top of his.  He did a small movement and took it in his.  They drove the rest of the way to Stars Hollow in silence.

When they reached Rory's house, he came down so he could get the door for her and extended his hand as to help her get out of the car.  They walked the rest of the way to the porch steps in silence, until they reached them.  She stood on top of one so they could be on eye-level with each other.

"Are you going to be okay tonight?" she asked him.

"Are you offering me to spend the night with you in sake of my well-being?" he leered.  Even in moments like this, Tristan was still Tristan.

She ignored it, for once.  "Are you going to be okay tonight?"

"As well as I can be… don't worry." He said as he looked at her.  He discovered that even with her standing on a step, he was still taller than she was.

"How can you tell me not to worry about you?" she said, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Do you worry about me?" he asked, surprising her.

"Why would you think I would spend today with you if I didn't?"

"I don't know.  Because you felt you had to?"

"I never do anything because I should do it.  I just do it.  I'm a regular _Nike_ add."  He laughed.  "I did it because we're friends and because I care about you too much not to do it.  You needed me and I was there for you.  Not because I felt I had to."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Life goes on, right? I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…"

"Call me anytime you think you need to… please"

"I will." He assured her.

"Do you want to come in?" She asked signaling the entrance to her house.

"At this time a night… what will the neighbors say?"

"We don't have to worry about the neighbors when we have Lorelai…" she said, and he smiled.  He knew what she meant.  Even worst than the neighbors, it was Lorelai.

"I think I should go home, right now… we are probably going to discuss what happened, and how we are going to continue life without my… well, without him now."

"Okay, but if you want to seek refugee…"

"This is the first place I'm coming to."

She gave him two thumbs up, and then she removed them a little embarrassed.

"So…"

"So…" she repeated.

"I should go…"

"We had already come to an agreement on that one…"

"Yeah…"

"I don't think I'll be seeing you tomorrow at school then, huh?"

"Why do you ask? Would you miss me if I weren't to attend?"

"I will have no direction in my day without you…" she said sarcastically "oh wait, that's you without me." She said, with a small smile.

"I have no direction not only in my day, but in my life, without you in it." He said seriously.  The small smile on her lips faltered and then disappeared.

He placed a hand on her waist, to pull her a little closer and he took a small step forward.  She took a deep breath, knowing what was coming.  He looked at her straight in the eye, and said "God, you're so beautiful."

"You say that to all the girls" she said swatting him lightly on the shoulder, with a wavering smile.

"Yeah, but I guess this is one of the few times, or maybe the only time, I've meant it."

They stood for a few seconds like that, then he grabbed the fabric of her dress to pull her even closer to where he was, and she placed her right hand on his neck.  He took that as a small invitation, and placed his left hand in the same manner as the right hand.  He just touched his lips to hers, lightly, waiting for a reaction, and he held her bottom lip for a second between his lips.  He separated himself an inch or two, and looked at her eyes waiting for a confirmation.

She did a small nod, and looked at his lips.  And that's when he really kissed her.

He gently lowered his head the very small distance that was between them and placed his lips on hers, she responded immediately.  He kissed her lightly, no pushing.  This was going to be the way she wanted it to be.  She moved her hand around his neck, and he took that as a sign that he could deepen the kiss… and so he did.

He lightly graced her bottom lip with his tongue to ask for permission, and she parted her lips to let him in.  And he was in heaven.  He continued kissing her with such sweetness that she could have melted right then and there.  She placed her other hand on his chest, not to separate him from her, but to get him closer by pulling him lightly to her.  He closed his arms around her waist, and lifted her from the step to place her on the ground.  She let out a small laugh, which was muffled because he didn't let her break the kiss, because he didn't want to risk the chance of not being able to continue kissing her.  

When he placed her on the ground he pulled her even more to him (if that was even physically possible), by keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.  He needed her nearness, her warmness, her sweetness… he needed _her_ and _just her_.

He, then, did a little movement that made her wrap her arms around him… and he thought that he could go and join his grandfather at that moment.  He didn't want anything more from life than this.

They continued kissing each other for what seemed like hours.  They would part their lips from each other, smile, and continue.  

The circumstances for their recently developed nearness weren't the best, and they both knew that.  However, when one is given an opportunity just as the one that had been granted to Tristan that night, it was something that one does not let go so easily.

After several minutes of kissing (their lung capacity astounded them both… in fact Rory didn't know she had such) they finally decided to break apart, much to Tristan's regret.  He placed a small kiss on her, now, swollen lips and smiled while he placed his forehead to hers.

"Um…" she said, and bit her lower lip.  Tristan nearly groaned.  He gave her a short kiss again.

"Um…" was what he said this time.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I should…"

"Yeah, you were…"

"And now I am…" he said and kissed her good-bye.

"I'll see you… right?" she asked him again, still in his arms.

"Yeah, after this you're not getting rid of me that easily." He finally let go of her, started to walk to his car; and then stopped midway, walked back to where she was standing and cupped her face in his hands, gave her another kiss good night and finally left, without looking back.  If he did, he would never leave the Gilmore house again.

Rory just stood on her spot. 

Lorelai stood by the window, smiling.

~*~

**Author's Note.  I hope you enjoyed this chapter… at last, the long awaited kiss! I really hope that you liked it, and if you did (or didn't) the feedback is always well appreciated.  Thank you so much!  -Mary**

**To my best friend Susan, on her Birthday!**** Happy Birthday Little One!! **


	10. Rory

**Disclaimer.  **Don't own them.

**Minus Dean 10**

She waited for the car to drive out of her driveway.  Then, she waited for the car to drive by Luke's.  Then she waited for the car to drive out of Stars Hollow (at least she waited long enough for that to happen… she did some calculations).  But then, she realized that the reason why she was not moving was that she felt like her feet were made of concrete.  It was that kind of feeling people get when they say, "I was glued to the spot."  Either way, it wasn't that she wouldn't move; it was that she couldn't.

That kiss had been life altering to say the least; as beautiful as _Paris__ in the springtime (if were possible to compare one with the other); as sweet and yet as sinful as Godiva chocolate.  There had been a moment where she thought that her heart would stop and her knees buckle.  _How could Tristan do something like this to me_? she thought and then she smiled.  And then she chastised herself, __No.  No smiling._

"He was vulnerable"; "he didn't know what he was doing"; "he probably didn't feel a thing"; "By tomorrow, he won't even remember it happened," all kinds of excuses came to her mind, anything to ignore the fact that they had kissed.  Denial is always so much better than acceptance.

Whatever it was she figured that she would pull a Scarlet O'Hara _"and think about it tomorrow", and when she regained feeling in her feet and legs she decided to go into her house, into her room, change her clothes to pajamas, and got to bed._

*

She hadn't been able to fall asleep as easily as other nights, and for Lorelai that wasn't a good thing.  She had work the next day.  But she was worried… about Tristan.  She didn't know how the kid won her over.  Some would say that coffee might have played a roll in it; in fact, Rory insisted on that one.

But she knew what it was that won her over.  To win Lorelai over, most of the time, was through Rory.  And the way that boy treated her, it was more than enough reason to love him.  Granted, he teased her daughter mercilessly, he made leering remarks at her that (to someone who wasn't on the receiving end of them) were amusing, the joking, the bugging, and everything else.  But he also was a great friend to Rory, stood by her when needed, supported her, and helped her.

Lorelai smiled.

And that look on his face whenever he looked at Rory was priceless.  It was an expression of love (and sometimes-other things).  Only Rory wasn't able to tell he liked her, and was most definitely (at least in Lorelai's opinion… and everyone else in Stars Hollow) in love with her.

When Lorelai heard gravel movement indicating the arrival of a car at her house she removed the blankets from on top of her, got up from the bed and walked towards the window.  And that's when she saw them.

"Well it's about time," she said to her empty room and smiled.  And started to move, but then did a double take and added, "Where did they learn to kiss like that?"

*

"You're up early" Lorelai told Rory as she was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee cradled in her hand.

"Wasn't that sleepy" Rory answered distractedly, never removing her eyes from the cup.

"How's Tristan doing?"

"Fine… or as well as one can be in this situation."

"Was it a sudden thing?" Lorelai asked, referring to Janlan DuGrey's death.

"No, he had been ill for months now.  I guess that even if you know it's going to happen, it's still unexpected."

"What's up with you?" was Lorelai's 'subtle' attempt to change the subject.

"Um… nothing, I'm fine." Rory said finally looking up from her cup.  She gave her, what she thought was, a half-smile.

"You don't seem fine," Lorelai stated.  "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"You seem so quiet."

"I don't feel like talking."

"Well you know where to find me when you feel like talking," Lorelai said as she started to walk away.

"I'm confused" Rory stopped Lorelai mid-way.

"About what?"  She asked as she took a sit across from Rory.

"Well, um, you see…" Rory started.

"Let me help you… Tristan and I… go on, take it from there."

"How do you know it's about Tristan?"

"Call it 'damn's mother intuition'"

"Tristan and I… we're friends, right?"

"But you know it wouldn't be that way if it were up to him"

Rory didn't answer.

"The question now is do _you _want it to change?"

"That's what's getting me confused."

"Well that and what happened last night, right?"

Rory's head snapped up, her eyes wide.

Lorelai gave her and apologetic smile.  "I was up and I heard the gravel move.  I saw you outside with Tristan… when I went to the window.  I'm sorry I didn't want to peek or anything… it just happened."

"Well its better that you saw it, as embarrassing as that thought is, than you finding out from someone like Patty or Babette… I swear they have this place bugged, not just our house, but the whole town too."

"Either that or everyone is nosy and are peeking through out windows looking at the on-goings in town and then reporting to Patty and Babette who might just secretly have head-quarters set up somewhere."

"Don't talk too much, if they think we are getting suspicious about them, they might just whack us."

"This is a regular small-town Mario Puzzo story."

"One day we just might get hit with a canoli."

They both smiled.  Lorelai's wider than Rory.

"But seriously, honey.  How are you feeling about what happened?"

"It was unexpected, to start with.  I never expected that from him."

"Rory, sweetie, where have you been living? Have you not been paying attention to your own life?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it is more than obvious to everyone else that Tristan is head over heels in love with you.  Do you think all of the attention he gives you is because you are a nice friend?"

"I am a nice friend." She stated defensively.

"I know you are, but that's not the point to that _rhetorical question."_

"Then what is your point."

"Rory, unless you have been living under a rock, you might have noticed that this boy is constantly around you…"

"Its part of his annoying personality."

"He compliments you…"

"If you can call that compliments… even he calls them 'compliments of sorts'"

"He stands up for you…"

"No, he stands up for himself and if it happens to coincide with something that…"

"If you are going to keep refuting everything I tell you to make your own point, then there is no reason why we should have this conversation at all."

"It's easier to deny it than to actually try to comprehend it."

"Well, if it had been that way thru out history, then we probably wouldn't have history, you know.  Imagine if Newton had decided to say what you just said.  We might not know what gravity is."

"This is completely different."

"My point is that there are some discoveries that are worth trying to comprehend.  Granted that your love life might not be as important to the world as gravity is, but it is important to you and, in addition, to me… and to him.  You owe it to yourself, and to him, to figure out your feelings before he calls you.  Because he is going to call you."

"I know.  What am I going to do mom? What if I loose my friend?"

"If you are not willing to take a risk, then probably you already know what your feelings towards what happened are."

"It's not the risk I'm afraid of taking… it's the consequences to that risk that are the scary ones." 

"You cannot play it safe all the time."

"I can try."

"Then you will never have fun… life is not as fun when you avoid taking risks.  The person that take risks, are the ones that can actually say I was happy once…"

"Yeah, but I don't want to be happy just once…"

"Well, that is totally up to you to decide.  If you don't take the risk, you will always be safe… but also, you will always wonder 'what if' and that's a bigger torture." Lorelai finished.  "I have to go, I have to get to the inn early today… are you going to be ok?"

"Nope, but thanks for the talk… I have to get ready too, I've got school." And with that, they both got up from the kitchen table and went on their way.

~*~

Rory had been on autopilot for most of the day.  She had gone from one class to the next, to lunchtime… did her tasks without even paying any attention to them.  She had been trying to figure out that jumble in her head, and however way she turned it around, she still came to the same spot: she was scared.

And the fact that people had been asking her how Tristan was doing, and when he was coming back to school didn't help matters much.  To make matters worse, she had been getting dirty looks from girls, and raised eyebrows from jocks and people who attended the service the day before.  

There where the less-than-subtle questions that came from people like 'since when are you guys together?', or 'you make a fine couple, why didn't you tell us about it?'.  But her personal favorite were the questions that weren't being asked to her but in conversations that she picked up from here and there 'how long do you think that is going to last?'.  There were those optimists that said 'since it took him that long, I'm guessing a month', and there were those who said 'are you kidding… I don't think even the usual two weeks'.

And thru out the whole day she wanted to scream.  Let everyone know that she wasn't dating him, but she figured that would only make the gossip-mills blow with a lot more speed.

She was there to support a friend, why was everyone making such a big deal out of something so simple.  Because they were holding hands? That made her wonder if she had been holding hands with someone other than Tristan DuGrey, would it have had the same reaction.  She had accepted a date with Tom Harris, and it hadn't caused that big of a commotion… so why holding hands with Tristan would cause it?

Then she remembered something Lorelai had told her that morning, _it is more than obvious to everyone else that Tristan is head over heels in love with you.  She realized then, that she was as oblivious as everyone thought she was.  Good thing the school day was over._

~*~

The little bell over the door chimed, and from the inside of the store came the voice "Welcome, everything 20% off."

"Mrs. Kim? Its Rory… is Lane home?"

"Oh, Rory.  Lane is in her room, doing homework.  She can't…"

Rory, out of sheer luck, found the source of the voice faster than she ever had in her life.  "Mrs. Kim, please it's very important for me to talk to Lane." When Mrs. Kim saw Rory and the face of true need and desperation she had she allowed her to go up to Lane's room.  "You have 20 minutes." Mrs. Kim said as Rory was running up the stairs.

When she came into the room, a very surprised Lane jumped up.  Homework time was the only moment she actually had to herself… so she took that time to re-arrange her CD collections or check for missing and must-have CD's, on her Music Encyclopedia.  

"Rory, you scared me half to death…" but when she saw the look on her face, she continued, "What's wrong?"

"Tristan kissed me." Rory answered simply.

"Wow, um… what… um… Woooow!" 

"Need a little more than that… and quick, we only have 20 minutes."

"She's in a good mood…"

"I don't know what to do…"

"I don't' know what to say… I mean, I had no preparation to hear about that event… I knew it was going to happen, it's just that I expected a little cushion before such news"

"I'm sorry; it's the lack of time…"

"So…"

"You knew it was going to happen?"

"It was just a matter of time, or timing."

"Was I the only one that didn't know?"

"Apparently… someone is going to be happy about winning the pool."

"There was a pool?"

"Yeah… it is Stars Hollow."

"Wow"

"Yeah… so, um, how do you feel?"

"I don't know… Lane, what am I going to do? This is just so, um…"

"Overwhelming?"

 "Yeah… it's… I need help?"

"You obviously do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you think you need help, then you obviously do.  For some girls this should be a no-brainer."

"What are…?"

"Listen Rory, this is a good thing that is happening to you.  A boy that really likes you, that has done anything he can to win you over, that has showered you with attention, that has done everything that you ask him to do, that learns your quirks, that knows you tendencies, that puts up with… I don't know, you dating someone besides him, and still ask you out after you dump the other guy; a guy like that, many girls would die to have.  Something like what you have it's not easy to come by… and the fact that he looks the way he does, well it's just icing on the cake."

"Yeah, but…"

"Look, I know you can be very oblivious at times, but I know you are not that oblivious that you wouldn't know a good thing when it's right in front of you.  And that fear, because it is fear that you are feeling, it's because you know that you feel the same way about him as he feels about you.  It's just hard for you to acknowledge that."

"Since when did you become such a fountain of wisdom?" Rory asked with a smile.

"I'm the poster girl for 'those who can't do, teach'…" she answered smiling.  "If you think that what you need is time, tell him so… I bet he would give it to you in a heartbeat.  However, don't take to long; he has been patient long enough.  What you are going to go thru is not easy, but I bet it will be fun.  It should be a risk you should take."

"What if it doesn't work out?" Rory asked the same question from earlier that day.

"Take the good experiences and memories, because they will make you happy, and learn from the bad ones, because that will make you wise."

"Wow, you're better at this that my mother…"

"When did you talk to her?"

"This morning… she saw us kiss last night."

"First, you should know better that to talk to Lorelai in the morning.  And second, please elaborate on the 'she saw us kiss' part… we still have 12 minutes to spare.  And give me details on the whole kiss thing, please!"

And with that, the two friends started discussing what had happened the day before, and Rory's conversation with Lorelai that morning.

~*~

Rory came out of Kim's Antiques after her twenty minutes had passed.  Her conversation with Lane had helped her.  She needed someone to help her sort out things in an orderly manner.

She was walking over to her house, with a Luke's cup of coffee in hand, when she spotted his truck parked in the driveway.  Her strides became a little longer.  When she finally reached her house, she was Tristan sitting on the porch's bench, his head in his hands and dressed completely in black.

She leaned on one of the columns and she saw him lift his head.

"Hey" she told him, when their eyes locked.

"Hey" he said and started to get up.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked him, nodding towards the house.

He reached her where she was standing, and grabbed her hand.  "Why don't we sit out here? Its nice." he said as he pulled her to the bench, where they both sat.

"So… um… how are you doing?" she asked trying to break the silence.

"I'm okay, I guess." He said as he played with her fingers.

"How's your family doing?"

"My father is back at work.  And my mom is okay."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah… How was school?" he asked as he looked at her.

"It was school, you know, same competitive people walking the hallways and all that… they asked about you."

"Yeah, I had phone calls of people thru out the day…" he said looking back at her hand.

"Many girls, huh?" she tried to tease.

"Except from the most important one…" he said looking back at her.

"I'm sorry; it's just that I…"

"I did say that I was going to call you…"

"Yeah, but I…"

"Did I ruin things between us?" he asked unexpectedly.

"Oh… um… no… well, um…"

"I did, didn't I? I'm sorry Rory, I wasn't thinking much.  I just… I'm sorry about it."

And then she pulled her hand from his grasp.  He was apologizing, and she had been racking her brain all day trying to figure out what had happened.  And now he was apologizing.  What was he doing?

He was surprised when she pulled her hand from his grasp.  He wasn't expecting that reaction.  He figured that what he had to do was apologize to make her feel a little less awkward.  He didn't want to go thru the 'letting down easy' conversation, so he figured he would beat her to it.  He just wouldn't be able to take any more pain.

"I have things to do… you know, homework and stuff." She said coldly.

"Oh, yeah, I know… I should go, then." He said and he got up from the bench.  "I think I will be going back to school tomorrow, so I'll see you then." He said and walked towards his car.  A few seconds later, he was driving out of the driveway.

~*~

"THAT JERK!!!!" Rory screamed as she went into the house after Tristan left.  "What the hell is wrong with him?" she asked to no one.

She wasn't expecting that.  She figured that he would want to talk about what happened and they will come to an understanding and take it slow and one step at a time… _together.  _

"How dumb can a person be? I was right all along… there was nothing there, and here I was thinking about stuff that was never there to begin with… How dumb can a person be?" 

She was exasperated.  She was so upset.  She was so… _sad.  With that she slid down the wall hear the door, and let her tears fall.  _

She felt like she had been building castles in the sky.  Why did she have to listen to everyone else's opinions and thoughts in the matter?  It was her life after all, not everyone else's; so her opinion should be the only one that mattered.

She stood up and cleared her face from her tears.  She wasn't going to let something that never happened, get her down.  Nope.  She will recover and move on.  _You can't miss something you never had_, she kept convincing herself.  That would be her new mantra.

~*~

That day, Lorelai had arrived at home and asked her what she had thought through out the day.  Rory just gave a curt answer telling her that she had made her decision and that that should be all that mattered.  Lorelai knew that when Rory gave those answers it was something that she didn't want to talk about and that she would have to let it go, until Rory was ready again to regain hold on it again.  She was there to support her daughter, no matter how bad her decisions were at times.

Tristan had been back at school the day after his visit to Rory's house.  And when he approached her locker to start the whole day, she wasn't there.  He was a little surprised but figured that he would see her later on that day.

But he didn't, well except for the classes that they had together, but even then, he hadn't been able to talk to her.  She was always to busy taking notes and paying attention in class.  When class was over, she would be out the door and he wasn't able to catch up with her.  

He didn't understand what was going on.  He thought that he had done the right thing, the one that was expected so they wouldn't ruin their friendship… because he would rather have her as a friend than no way at all.  But apparently, he didn't do the right thing, but instead something that had gotten them further apart.

~*~

Rory had her mind made up.  She was going to avoid Tristan, at all cause.  She was not ready to go back to something that she wouldn't be able to handle.  She needed to forget about him, and learn how to ignore the feelings she had towards him.  She had ignored them for so long, she figured that would be able to do it over and that she just needed time for that.  And when she had her abilities back, she was going to go back and still be friends with Tristan.

So, as if she had a map of the Chilton Underground, she avoided meeting him in all the usual places.  Her locker was the biggest task, but she rearranged her locker schedule.  What she did was: in-between second and third period she would go and get her books for third, fourth and fifth, that way avoiding meeting him in-between fourth and fifth.  Then she would go to her locker at the end of fifth and get some other books.  She would avoid lunchtime by bringing her own lunch and eating it in a secluded area that hardly anyone visited.  And just before last period, she would get her backpack and the books for her first period class, therefore avoiding meeting him at the end of the day or first thing in the morning.  Being Rory Gilmore was exhausting.  But she had hope in her plan.

In class, she will usually sit in the middle of groups, that way avoiding having an empty sit next to her for him to sit in.  When everyone stood up, she would remain seated, going out with one of the groups where she could get lost in the middle and get out of the classroom.  Last, but no least, in-between periods and stuff she figured that the safer place to spend that time was… _the girls' bathroom._  She had it all figured out.

She was going to become ignorant of her feelings once again.

But to best laid plans…

When days went by, Tristan started paying more attention to her… with the help of his friends.  Josh, Alex, Nick, and even Bryce were helping him figure out Rory's movements.  So by Friday he figured out what Rory had been doing these last few days to avoid running into him.  And they decided that the best time to approach her was just before last period, at her locker.  And if that didn't work, they always had plan B, which consisted of a distraction, a missed bus, a disappearance and someone driving her back to Stars Hollow… even if it was against her wish.

Meeting Rory at her locker worked out well though.  Tristan had gotten a hall-pass so he got out of class a few minutes early, and hid behind a row of lockers.  When he saw her arriving and opening her locker, he finally approached her.

"Hey," he said as he walked behind her before leaning on the locker next to hers.

She sighed.  "Hey," she answered back without looking at him, and wondered how far she could run before he caught up with her.

"That was some planning you did…," he stated.

"What are you talking about?" she tried to sound nonchalant when she asked.

"That whole avoiding stunt…"

"What avoiding stunt?" she asked as she turned to him and started to close her locker door and shutting it.  "Tristan, I really don't have time for this…"

"What do you mean 'what'?" he asked running a hand thru his hair.  "Changing locker schedules, changing paths, avoiding lunch… what was that about?"

"I was trying to keep it a little… whimsical," she said as she started to walk away.

He fell into step with her.  "By doing a whole new routine for four straight days? If you ask me that is anything but whimsical."

"Well, no one is asking you…"

"Rory, come on…" he said and held her by the wrist, softly.

"Tristan, I really need to get to class," she said as she did a little twist of her hand to release herself from his hold.

"Rory, I need you…," he said.  She just gave him a sad, knowing look and walked away from him.

~*~

"Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking"

"Lorelai? It's Tristan"

"Hey there! How are you?" she asked.

"Do you know what happened to Rory?"

"Why?"

"No, don't get scared she is fine.  I was talking in regards to me.  Is she mad at me for something I did?"

"I truly don't know honey… I just came in on Monday, from work, and I asked her if she had figured some stuff out and she told me that she had made a decision and that she didn't want to talk about it.  And I've been in the dark ever since…"

And then it hit him.  "Monday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was over at your house on Monday…"

"You are at our house quite often, why should Monday be any different"

He just chuckled.  And then she answered… "Oh… so you think that that could be the reason?"

"Well it makes sense" he answered, "you see I apologized for… um… and then she got upset and told me that she had stuff to do and then I left."

"You apologized?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah… I thought that was what she wanted…"

"So you apologized…" she stated.

"Yeah… I didn't know what else to do; I didn't want to screw everything up.  I love her to much to lose her too."

"That's what you did wrong… did you ask her what she wanted?"

"Well, no, I assumed that…"

"You know what they say about assuming, right?"

He smiled.

"Hey Lorelai, do you think you could help me out with something?"

"Sure.  As long as it's not illegal… oh what the heck! Even if it's illegal."

"Oh, don't worry about that.  Is the garden at the Inn booked for Saturday?"

"Nope."

"Would you book it for me?"

Lorelai smiled.  "You got it…"

~*~

**Author's Note.  First of all, thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter, I was so happy getting all of them.  You guys are the best!  In addition, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.  And don't miss the next one… -Mary **


	11. Independence Inn

**Disclaimer.  See previous chapters.**

**Author's Note.  _This is the end, it has been a great ride, but this new chapter is the last one to this story.  Please enjoy! For this chapter I took the creative liberty of designing the garden where everything is going to take place._**

**Minus Dean 11**

Tristan was amazed.  He had never worked so hard to try to get the girl, and when he did, he didn't even notice that he had her until he lost her.  Nevertheless, he was going to get her back.  He wasn't going to let it all go so easily.  What had he been thinking that night when he left?

He remembered the way it had felt having her in his arms.  He remembered how it felt when he kissed her, and that unbelievable feeling when she nodded and smiled… that had been the most beautiful moment that night.  

He had been so out of it.  The fact that he had lost his grandfather hours before that had been so hard on him.  He thought that he might not recover.  Then, when he needed her the most, she was there for him.  She took care of him and protected him.  She had laid everything out for him.  He didn't have to think about anything, she had taken care of everything herself… for him.  If there had been any doubt on him of his feelings towards her that would've confirmed any suspicions.  But he had already figured out how he felt about her… but the fact that she had taken care of him in such a way, just confirmed what he had been unsure of, that he loved her.

And that night, after everyone had left and they were in the kitchen discussing when to leave… that comfort he felt around her (and that he knew she also felt) when he approached her and told her if she was ready to leave; that had been one of the most important moments of their relationship, in his mind.  To him it meant that things had moved on, that the friendship was stronger than ever because of the feelings towards each other.

He remembered that after he kissed her and drove out of her driveway, he thanked his grandfather for putting a good word for him up there.  He knew that his grandfather had had something to do with that.

Then, the inevitable happened.  He doubted himself and his actions.  He thought about how he had been so forward.  How she might think that he was taking advantage of his situation and the hand that she had held out for him.  He knew that if he didn't do some damage control, there was no telling what could happen.  He wasn't ready to loose her.  So he decided (for himself, and for her) that he would apologize and make it out to be something that happened and that wouldn't repeat itself again.

Why had he been so stupid? He should have gone with the obvious.  Talk to her.  Be upfront about it.  Measure up to the man he had been raised to be and discuss things in a mature manner.  

However, this was Rory Gilmore, with Rory, things were more like 'think about what you would normally do, and do the exact opposite', and he would stand a better chance with her.

But he was going to rectify his actions.  There was no way he was going to let go of one of the best things that had happened to him.  And Lorelai was going to help him with that.  She had experience.  She was going to help him set everything up at the inn, and with Rory.  She had warned him, though.

"If you screw it up with my little girl, I promise that I will hunt you down with a blunt knife and cut your limbs with it," she had said when they were setting everything up over the phone.

He wasn't going to be able to go thru with it that night, since it was a Friday.  And Friday had always been 'Friday night dinner' at the grandparents and it was respected.  But Saturday night, was going to be his night.  It was going to be the night he would get Rory, finally.  Saturday night was going to be their night.  It was going to mark the beginning of something beautiful for the both of them.  

He just hoped that she would show.

~*~

Saturday finally came.  It took it long enough, at least in Tristan's opinion.  But then again he was anxious, so it probably didn't count anyways.  He arrived early at the inn, and met with both Lorelai and Sookie to go over some more details for that night.

They decided on the menu, the decorations, the setting, the service, the music.  They were just tuning up some details, to assure him that everything was going to turn out all right.

By the end of the gathering, Tristan left the Inn to get ready and wait for the time when he was finally going to let his feelings flow freely… as cheesy as it may sound.

~*~

"Rory, honey!! I know you're there.  Pick up the phone; I have a huge favor to ask you… I'll wait." Came Lorelai's voice from the machine, and started to do the Jeopardy music that she always had found so amusing.

In the meantime, Rory was turning cushions on the sofa, and moving magazines until she finally found the elusive phone. "Mom?"

"Wow! It took you really long this time."

"Yeah, well you see: somehow, and I don't know how that happened, the phone was on its cradle.  Now here I am, turning half the living room up side down trying to find it in its usual place, and he was in the place it should be the whole time.  Talk about freaky, huh?"

"Well, anything can happen in the Gilmore house o' supernatural, even the phone being in its place… So, what are you doing?"

"Oh, not much you know, the usual… how about you?"

"You see…"

"Uh, I never like your 'you see' stories… what happened?"

"You see, somehow we had a small problem here at the inn that is keeping me engaged here, to put it nicely, because I can think of many cursing phrases that could be use to replace that one.  But anyway, here we are with this emergency and I can't go home for tonight, so I was wondering if you were so kind as to bring me a suitcase, with all the essentials, and the not so essential, things so that I can spend the night here…"

"Oh, what happened?"

"An emergency… were you not paying attention to me"

"But there can be different types of emergencies, I am just asking you to elaborate on yours."

"It's one of a kind, so I would like to keep the surprise factor if you don't mind…"

"Oh, no… sure, I'll take you a suitcase with your stuff… anything in particular?"

"Nope, just pick, fold, and stuff it in there…"

"I'll see in a few minutes then… bye"

"I'll be here, with my emergency… bye"

~*~

Rory came into the Inn with her mother's suitcase in tow.  When she arrived at the front desk Michel, being the rude French man that he is, pointed out that Lorelai had a room at the Inn where she was going to stay and to take her bags herself because the bellhop was busy and he simply didn't want to help her.  And with that, he gave her the key to the room and Rory went on her way.  Lorelai was nowhere to be found.

When she came into the room, she saw a rose on the bed, with a little envelope with her name on it.  She placed the suitcase next to the bed and proceeded to take the envelope.  It just read _'Go to the garden'.  She took the lilac rose and took a deep breath, inhaling the natural sweetness of it._

She walked out of the room and went in direction to the garden.  The garden was a huge extension of ground; green wherever a person would place their eyes.  Luke had always complained about it because he thought that they used 'the same green painting' people use in golf courses in order to keep the green even, which were 'extremely toxic'.  There were trees everywhere and different kinds of flowers and roses that gave color to it.  In the middle of the garden, there was the pool that had a bridge.  The bridge was a small wooden one that crossed over the pool.  The pool was small, and was no more than three or four feet deep, and it always remained lit.  On a clear night, if a person stood on the bridge over the pool they were able to look at the most beautiful star constellations known to men.

As she was coming out to the garden, she noticed that the path towards the pool had small candles inside small paper bags that lit the way towards the bridge and beyond it.  At the beginning of the path, she almost stepped on a second lilac rose, and another small envelope.  The card inside it read '_Follow the light' and so she did._

She walked toward the bridge and saw that the surface of the pool was full with lilac rose petals, and she could smell the sweetness of them.  When she continued her way across the bridge, she saw Tristan standing at the end, surrounded by candles that she noticed, when she was on top of the bridge, that were heart-shaped.  He was wearing jeans, a blue sweater, tan shoes, and belt… and yet she had never seen him look more handsome than that day.

"So you are behind this whole thing, huh?" she said, from the same spot where she had been admiring the petals.

"Guilty"

"Everything's beautiful, Tristan.  But what…"

"Would you mind finishing your way towards here?"

She smiled.  For a moment, she forgot that she was mad at him, and that she was trying to regain her ignorance (if such a thing was possible… but she was starting to doubt it).  But when she remembered what she was trying to do, she made her smile disappear.

"Actually I do.  Would you mind telling me what this is all about? I have to go back to something at home…"

"Rory, I know you're mad at me, just give me a chance to explain myself.  And if after that you decide that you still want to be mad at me, I will never bother you again."

She just sighed and took small steps to where he was standing.  When she stepped out of the bridge, he handed her a single lilac rose that he had been hiding behind his back, just like the ones he had been leaving all over the Inn.  

"Thanks…" she said as she took the flower in her hand and held it together with the other two she had gathered.

He tried to reach for her hand, but she took it back.  "Listen Rory, I'm really sorry for what happened… I…"

"Tristan, look, you already apologized for what happened so there's no need to keep dragging that into a conversation.  If you are doing this to try and make me feel better, I'm sorry to say that you are wasting both your time and mine."

"Mary, I never knew you had it in you to…"

"Tristan, really, is there a point to all of this because I really need to get going."

"So you are not going to make it easy for me…"

"Easy for you? What is that supposed to mean?"

"I am trying to apologize for…"

"And I already told you that you already did that, so there is no point on keep doing it…"

"Would you just let me finish? God! Why is it so hard to talk to you sometimes?"

She just shot him a withering glare.

He took a deep breath and continued.  "Listen, I made a mistake… a big mistake.  And it's not what you think.  I told you I was sorry for kissing you, but I'm not.  That is the farthest thing from what I feel."

"Wow! This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" she said while she rolled her eyes.

"You have a habit for interrupting people"

"You are not people, you are you… I might have a habit of interrupting you, but I don't interrupt people… it's rude!"

"Then think of me as people and…"

"Some stretch of the imagination…"

"I am trying to have a conversation with you."

"You are having a monologue… if you include the other person it is a conversation, but if you don't let her talk, then it's called a monologue."

"You are just full of wit tonight, aren't you?"

"As much as any other day.  Let me tell you something, there was a moment that I thought that when you were being extremely nice, I found you tolerable… I don't know what I was thinking."

"Okay… I deserve all I'm getting.  All I'm asking is a chance to explain myself, I'm not asking for much from you, am I?"

She gave a defeated shrug.  "You're right.  Go on, I'm listening."

"Rory it has never been a secret that I have feelings for you, has it? I always insisted on us going out, even as our friendship progressed I kept asking you to go with out with me.  Although, as our friendship grew you looked at it under a different light.  You thought of them as suggestions of things we should do _as friends_"

"Yeah, but we are… were… are friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, but that is not all I want from you Rory.  I want more.  I need more.  I need _you.  I need Rory the woman, not the friend.  Or I thought I did."_

"And we're back to where we started."

"No.  Pay attention here.  As we became closer _as friends, it came to my attention that I wanted you whole.  Not just the woman but also the friend.  I wanted both.  I came to see, that I needed both.  That's what made you so wonderful and different from all the girls.  I knew there was something different, but I realized it from getting to know you.  What made you different from the other girls came from within.  You were not empty, you were not devoid of emotion, and you were not just a pretty face.  You had all I never knew I wanted until I met you."_

After he finished this, he saw that here defenses were coming down.  That all he had hoped for was happening.  So he decided to continue.  He tried to get a hold of her hand, so he ran his hand over the length of the arm until he reached it.  And this time she didn't take it away from him.  He linked his hand to hers and stepped closer to where she was standing, and then he placed both their hands linked together in the middle of his chest.

"And that kiss!!" He said with a smile, and she blushed.  "Oh my God, that kiss had been all I had wanted for so long.  I was always so afraid of you rejecting me, slapping me across the face, and telling what a jerk I was, and that you had been right all along or something like that.  So I kept waiting and waiting for the right time to do it."

"You still didn't get the timing right." She said, and they both smiled.

"I know.  And that scared me, even more.  I thought that you might see it as if I had taken advantage of my situation or something.  But I knew that chances like those, being so close to you, didn't present themselves often.  And I should know since I pretty much hang around you every waking moment."  They both chuckled.

"Yeah, it's a little annoying at times," she told him, and he gave her hand a little squeeze, "but I can live with that." At this, he took a deep breath.

"I didn't want to take advantage of my pain or anything like that, Rory."

"I know you didn't." she said, looking at him in the eye.

"I wanted to clear that up.  If anything, I know that that moment had something to do with a little set up from _him_.  Apparently he stills thinks I can't do everything yet."

"So he humbles you?"

"He always did."

"So, um, why did…"

"I apologized? Oh, you will love this.  You see, I thought that you would want to deny what happened.  Made it look as something that shouldn't have happened at all.  That it had been something that you would feel sorry that happened, because of whatever reason you thought it was accurate.  And I couldn't take any more pain.  I like to keep my pain in small doses, and after what I had been thru that weekend… well I didn't want to go thru any more sad experiences.  So I told you what I thought you wanted to listen."

"Why didn't you ask me?"

"Yes, it would have been simple… but it would have been so predictable, don't you think?"

"Tristan, I'm serious.  You should've asked me how I felt.  It takes two persons to kiss.  Didn't I get a say in what happened between _us_? As in _you and __me."_

"Did you know what you wanted at that moment?"

"Well no…"

"You see."

"But we could've figured it out together.  Did you know how you felt at that moment?"

"Well no…"

"You see," she said, imitating him.

"Yes, but I did have a better idea about it.  You on the other hand…"

"What makes you think that I didn't have feelings for you?" she asked simply, and he took a step closer to her.

"Did you?"

"It might have taken me longer to get there, but yes.  I did.  I do.  That's why it hurts me so much the fact that you would think that you were the only one entitled to decide for the both of us." 

"Well I thought that…"

"That's your problem DuGrey, you think too much"

"Yeah, I must have picked it up from who I'm hanging out with."

"I was told once, that I should have a better screening process for my friends.  I should advice you the same."

"Who advised you such a moronic thing?"

"It's not important now."

"So it was Harris then, huh?" he said and didn't wait for an answer, "Oh, did I tell you that he left with my date at the dance?"

"That would have been fun to watch…," she told him, smiling.

They didn't notice the moment when both his hands were holding hers against his chest, or the moment when they had gotten so close together that there was no more space between them.  Still they continued their conversation.

"Tristan, listen.  I obviously don't have as much experience, like you do, in the whole dating thing; but I figure, that we need to have better communication if we are going to make anything work."

"So, what exactly is that we are going to make work?" He asked grinning.

"I don't know; you were the one with the whole speech prepared.  I figured that you had something prepared if such a question should arise."

"I want to be with you, and not share you with anyone," he told her.

"I want to be with you, and only you."

His smile was wide.  "I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"In all fairness, I never thought that I would say it to you either.  But it's nice."

"The thought of not having you was killing me.  I honestly thought that I had screwed everything up."

"You almost did.  _We almost did.  I think I am also to blame, a little bit."_

"Oh, thanks!" he said, with a smile, as he rolled his eyes in the same way she did.

"Love is sharing," she said with a smile.

"I knew you'd come around eventually" he teased her "_Mary.  I am after all, Tristan DuGrey."_

"Yeah, but I am the eternal optimist and hope that you'll overcome that." She joked back.

"So, um, would you mind if I kiss you now?" he asked her as he placed one of their linked hands under her chin to lift it up.

"At this moment, that is all I'm waiting for," she said, and he smiled and leaned in.

He slowly bent down to place a small kiss on her lips, lingering a little too long to tease her.  But apparently, she knew him now, and she smiled, so he unlinked their hands and cupped her face.  She placed her hands on his back and started to run them lightly, up and down his back.

He then started to deepen the kiss as he ran his arm down the side of her body and placed it in the small of her back, lightly.  She lifted her right hand and placed it behind his neck and started to play with his hair, as they started getting closer together.

Now it was his turn to smile, and she finally parted her lips letting him in, and the kiss was even more beautiful that the first one.  She was completely lost in him.  He was draining all that emotion that he had been so fond of.  And she didn't feel afraid.  She was giving all of herself in that kiss.

He was taking all that she gave him.  The way she touched him, and just let herself go and feel whatever he was showing her to feel.  She was open, and he loved that.  She let him show to her the way he felt, because he knew she understood that he couldn't express it with words… and she was right.

With another movement, he changed the position of his left arm around her waist and took the remaining step to her, but he had to separate his legs a little because they were standing so close together.  And this time, even without him doing anything, she wrapped her arms around him.  And he knew that everything had changed… and so did she.

~*~

Finally, they broke their kiss.  "You're all swollen…," he said, not really knowing what was the proper thing to say at that moment (which he was surprised that it could happen such a thing… to him) was.

"That was all your doing…"

"I've never been prouder of my work…"

"You're all swollen." She repeated his own words.

"That was all your doing," he continued with a small smile.

"I didn't know I could do that kind of work," she said, smiling.

"That was a mighty fine job you just did." He said placing another small kiss on her lips.

"Thank you sir" she said, blushing furiously.

"You blush so easily… I noticed that the first day you came to Chilton."

"Well this kind of intimacy is one that I have never experienced." She said, blushing even more, if possible. 

"It's okay.  I like that a lot."

"Tristan?" she said as she placed her head on his chest and he kept his arms around her.

"Mm-hmm" 

"Is there a reason why we are still standing in the middle of the cold?"

"Nope.  I just don't want to move.  I risk not being able to hold you again like this." He said as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm just making sure."

"Tristan?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"I'm cold."

"So my arms around you are doing nothing?" he teased her.

"Oh, no.  Their doing plenty, but try as they might there is just so much they can cover and I'm really, really cold."

"Yeah, I'm cold too.  And besides, this evening is not over."

Her head snapped up.  "It's not?" she asked.

"Well I had many ways to persuade you.  So the next one was food, and if that didn't work, Lorelai would let me lock you up in the Inn, with me, until you said you forgive me."

"So, there's food?" she asked him.

"Yep."

"In there?"

"Yep."

"So, why are we still standing here?  Let's go." She said, and he smiled.  She placed a quick kiss on his lips, and said, "thank you so much for everything you did to make this happen."

"Well, it took you really long to notice the great guy I am." He teased.

"But I've never been more glad of taking so long." She told him and took him by the hand and led him to the inside dining room at the Inn.

As they started to walk, she asked, "So, my mom was in on this too, huh?"

"Yeah, she's one great allied."

"So, she is not staying at the Inn then, is she?"

"Nope.  It was part of the plan."

"I'm glad."

"Rory…" he said as he stopped them midway.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he said as he pulled her closer.

She ran the palm of her hand along the side of his face, and as he had done many times before, he closed his eyes.  "I love you too."

~ THE END ~

**Author's Note.  So this is it.  What do you think? I really hoped you liked it.  I can tell you that I really enjoyed writing it.  I had so much fun with it! Thank you so much for your support, it meant so much to me.  In all honesty, it would have taken me longer if I hadn't injured my foot, but after all I'm glad it happened.  Please let me know what you think.**

So again, thank you so much for everything.  You are the best!!!

- Mary


End file.
